The aim of proportional representation is to make sure that the percentage of votes for each party corresponds with the number of seats they get in parliament. Types of Proportional Representation include:

List Proportional Representation (List PR)

In this system, each party presents a list of candidates to the voters, and voters give one vote for the party they prefer. Parties receive seats in the legislature in proportion to their overall share of the national vote. In some countries such as Israel, the entire country is one multi-member district: no division into districts. In other countries, multi-member districts are used. In this case, if Party A wins 50% of the vote in a district with 10 seats, they will get 5 of the 10 seats. There are no single-member districts with PR as it’s not possible to divide a single seat proportionally.

Some countries have a threshold for representation in the parliament: in Turkey, a party must get at least 10% of the vote to get seats in the parliament, which has the effect of excluding the smallest parties. In Israel, the threshold is only 1.5% which allows many parties to be represented. Some countries like South Africa have no threshold at all.

Usually the lists are “closed”. Voters cannot choose which people on the list they prefer. The winning candidates are taken from the lists in order of their position on the lists. For instance, if Party A receives 40% of the votes, then the first 40% of its candidates on the party list will get seats in the legislature.

In some countries, the lists are “open”. Voters can mark the party they like and also mark the candidates they prefer. Then the candidates who win the most votes on the list will be taken in order, according to the percentage of overall votes that the party got. For instance, if Party A receives 40% of the votes, then the top 40% of its candidates on the party list who got the most votes will get seats in the legislature.

Seventy-five countries and territories use proportional representation systems. The largest country that uses the list proportional representation system is Indonesia, but it is mainly used by middle-sized Western European, Latin American, and African countries.

Advantages

• More fair: every party is represented in parliament according to the percentage of votes they get.

• Unlike FPTP, there are no wasted votes.

• Minority parties have a chance to be represented in parliament even if they get a few votes.

•Encourages parties to campaign even in areas where are not strong: every vote counts towards a potential seat.

•More stability in economic development and government policy. FPTP often results in regular switching between two highly dissimilar parties which makes long term development and policy planning difficult. PR is more stable as it encourages coalition governance which means different political parties have to work together and compromise.

•Encourages parties to field lists of candidates that are diverse and will appeal to many types of voter.

• List PR seems to make parties more likely to put up women and ethnic minority candidates, as voters base their decision not on each individual, but on the entire list. In contrast, in plurality systems like FPTP, parties are often reluctant to put up minority candidates to run for election as their minority status is deemed to make them less electable.

Disadvantages

• Difficult to make quick decisions with coalition governments; can lead to gridlock and inability for the government to do anything.

• Unstable: coalitions make break down if the parties cannot find a way to work together.

• Fragmentation of parties: usually results in many political parties.

• Extremist parties are legitimized by getting seats in the legislature. Extremist parties can also have a lot of power over the majority party if it has to rely on their support to form a coalition.

• Difficult for voters to understand and elections are complex.

• Voters don’t feel close to their representatives because they cannot choose the candidates (in a closed list system). Closed list systems are also criticized for giving too much power to the party leadership who gets to determine the order of candidates.

• Independent candidates have no chance to be elected

• PR is also more or less affected by the district size (number of seats in district), election threshold (e. g. 2 %, 4 %, 5 % etc.), or other specific factors.

Single Transferable Vote (STV)

STV uses multi-member districts, and voters rank candidates in order of preference. In most cases the ranking is optional if they want they can choose just one candidate. A specified quota (percentage of votes) is set for how many first-preference votes a candidate must get in order to win a seat. Any candidate who has enough votes to fulfill the quota is immediately elected.

If there are not enough candidates that have fulfilled the quota for the number of seats open, then the lowest ranked candidate is eliminated and their votes are transferred to the voters’ second preferences. The surplus votes (any votes more than the quota) of the winning candidates are also redistributed according to those voters’ second preference. The process of elimination and transferring of votes goes on until they are enough candidates with sufficient votes to fill every seat.

STV is only used in the Republic of Ireland, Malta, and for some local elections in Europe, New Zealand and Australia.

Advantages

• Independent candidates can run, voters get to choose the candidate rather than just voting for the party as in List PR, no wasted votes. Many researchers feel that STV is one of the fairest and most representative electoral systems in the world.

Disadvantages

• As well as those listed for List PR, it is complicated and causes competition within parties as candidates from the same party are competing for the same seats.

Issues with Proportional Representation

• Size of Districts: The larger the district and the more seats available, the more proportional PR can be. For example, if a district has 9 seats, a party only has to win 10% of the vote to gain a seat. If a district only has 3 seats, a party must win at least 25% of the vote in order to secure a seat. The more seats there are, the more parties that can be represented. However, larger districts are also a problem because the link between the representative and the people can be weaker. Scholars have found that district sizes of 3-7 seats seem to work well.

• Thresholds: Some countries make thresholds: a minimum percentage you need to get represented in the parliament. In Germany, there is a 5% threshold to prevent far-right groups from getting into power. Any group that gets less than 5% of the vote cannot get seats in parliament.

• Closed vs. Open Lists: Some countries use closed lists, which have the advantage that parties can promote more minorities that might not get elected otherwise, but have the disadvantage the voters do not get to choose who they elect. Open lists are often used in Europe, but are also criticized for causing members of the same party to fight against each other.