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Do most modern democracies have equal power for each vote, regardless of their province/state/region? Don't most use voting districts to elect individuals?

ElFitz 5y ago
Most democracies do indeed elect their representatives per voting district, with each vote inside said district having the same voting power, and each district electing one representative. Then, for those where a prime minister rules, the prime minister is chosen by the elected representatives. In presidential democracies, the president is usually directly elected by voters, on a nationwide basis, independently of voting districts. So having a majority of the votes gets you elected.
- luckylion 5y ago
  > So having a majority of the votes gets you elected. In a presidential democracy, yes. In the others, maybe. Win 51% of the districts with 51% of the vote, and lose the other 49% without getting any votes. You've won the election, but haven't gotten the majority of votes. Yes, it's usually less extreme than in the US, but it still has the same issues with different district sizes.
  - ElFitz 5y ago
    > In the others, maybe. Win 51% of the districts with 51% of the vote, and lose the other 49% without getting any votes. To help with it, many countries regularly redraw their districts based on population size (census data). How is it in the US? (honestly have no idea)
mellavora 5y ago
The US has a winner-take-all approach. If a district votes 40% party X and 60% party Y, then party Y gets all of the representatives. These numbers are not atypical. So generally in the US, 40% of voters are not represented. A parliamentary democracy with proportional representation would, assuming say 10 seats for a 'state', split those 10 seats according to the vote. So you'd get 40 X'ers and 60 Y'ers. However, the parliamentary allows smaller parties to emerge, and as the support of a smaller party is necessary to get a majority of overall votes, the smaller parties have real power.

ElFitz 5y ago

Most democracies do indeed elect their representatives per voting district, with each vote inside said district having the same voting power, and each district electing one representative. Then, for those where a prime minister rules, the prime minister is chosen by the elected representatives. In presidential democracies, the president is usually directly elected by voters, on a nationwide basis, independently of voting districts. So having a majority of the votes gets you elected.

luckylion 5y ago
> So having a majority of the votes gets you elected. In a presidential democracy, yes. In the others, maybe. Win 51% of the districts with 51% of the vote, and lose the other 49% without getting any votes. You've won the election, but haven't gotten the majority of votes. Yes, it's usually less extreme than in the US, but it still has the same issues with different district sizes.
- ElFitz 5y ago
  > In the others, maybe. Win 51% of the districts with 51% of the vote, and lose the other 49% without getting any votes. To help with it, many countries regularly redraw their districts based on population size (census data). How is it in the US? (honestly have no idea)

mellavora 5y ago

The US has a winner-take-all approach. If a district votes 40% party X and 60% party Y, then party Y gets all of the representatives. These numbers are not atypical. So generally in the US, 40% of voters are not represented. A parliamentary democracy with proportional representation would, assuming say 10 seats for a 'state', split those 10 seats according to the vote. So you'd get 40 X'ers and 60 Y'ers. However, the parliamentary allows smaller parties to emerge, and as the support of a smaller party is necessary to get a majority of overall votes, the smaller parties have real power.