The electoral system is a procedure of democracy

The electoral system is a legally fixed mechanism for representing the interests of the people in state and local authorities. Such mechanisms are formed from three main sources: from national constitutional provisions and historical experience of election of public leaders, from international standards (norms of international law), as well as the traditions of perception of politics that have developed in a certain territory. Together, these three components form the effect of the stability of the political system, which exists due to the permanent circulation of elites and the change of party representation in the center and on the ground.

The concept of the electoral system

In political science, and in the legal science, two definitions of the electoral system are distinguished. The first implies the introduction and preservation of the legal standards for the election of people's representatives, as was mentioned above. The second definition indicates that the electoral system is the normative practice of counting votes at elections of any level. Two features of this approach are characteristic. Firstly, any election system is not subject to rapid audit. Hence, it turns out that the election procedure, and even more so the counting of votes, does not depend on either the will of the political leader or the decision of the dominant party. Secondly, administrative and managerial "gaps" remain between the internal bureaucracy and the first persons of political players. In democratic societies, there is often a situation where a party's public leader enters into a hidden conflict with representatives of the organization in the field, or the minister's private intentions are blocked by the departments of the ministry itself, because the activity of officials is largely independent of the personal will of the politician.

Electoral systems in their diversity

The traditions of the formation of electoral systems go back not only to historical, but also to religious experience. A classic example in this respect is England, where the bipartisan system has its roots in the aftermath of the civil war, expressed in the opposition of then contingent parties "for York" and "for Lancaster." As for the practice of religious confrontation, in this respect, the example of Germany is typical - Catholics, who choose liberal CDU-CSU and Protestants who sympathize with the left-wing Social Democrats. As a special (not right and not left) alternative, the "green" ones act, which already represent the interests of a new, "post-capitalist" voter.

Whatever it was, at present three types of basic electoral systems are singled out: majority, proportional and mixed.

The majority electoral system is the election of one deputy in the relevant constituency according to the list submitted by the parties and the so-called self-nominated candidates. The winner in the election is a candidate who receives a relative or an absolute majority of votes. In some cases, the so-called qualified majority is counted, when the candidate who receives more than 2/3 of the votes is considered elected.

A proportional electoral system is the election of deputies on the basis of lists submitted by parties. At the same time, voting can take place either only for parties ("closed" lists formed by a candidate and non-public for voters), or for parties and lists simultaneously ("open"). At the same time, the parties that received a certain percentage of the votes in the elections fall into the legislative assembly. Usually this is 3-5%, in Israel 1%, in some countries 7% and the majority. The composition of the deputies is formed on the basis of a rating vote on the lists. Thus, it turns out that the electoral system is a mechanism for the conversion of political elites, which does not allow monopolizing power or its individual powers.

The mixed system implies a combination of majority and proportional voting schemes. For example, 50% of seats are elected by party lists, and the other half by majority. However, in both cases, priority is given to party nominees. It is believed that the electoral system is political representation. And it can only be provided by candidates from parties or public organizations.

The Russian electoral system presumes parliamentary elections on a pro-rata basis. In the State Duma are those political organizations that gained more than 7% of the vote. Party lists are closed. It is assumed that in the next electoral cycle, scheduled for 2016, the electoral barrier will be reduced to 5%. It is possible that by this time there will be some more modifications to the voting procedure.