What document establishes the type of electoral system? Modern electoral system in Russia

The concept of the electoral system

Electoral system - the procedure for electing government bodies, local governments and their officials elected directly by citizens. In the Russian Federation, citizens elect the President of the Russian Federation, deputies of the State Duma, deputies of legislative (representative) bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, senior officials (heads of the highest executive bodies) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (elections to other government bodies are also possible), representative bodies of local self-government, elections are possible heads of municipalities, other bodies and local government officials.

Electoral systems for elections to bodies of state power and local self-government (as well as elected officials) are established by federal laws, laws of constituent entities of the Russian Federation (and for elections to bodies of local self-government - also by the charters of municipalities) in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law "On Basic guarantees of electoral rights and the right to participate in a referendum of citizens of the Russian Federation", constitutions (charters) of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Types of Electoral Systems

Types of electoral systems: majoritarian, proportional and mixed.

In the modern world, there are two types of electoral systems - majoritarian and proportional. Each of these systems has its own varieties.

Majoritarian electoral system is a system of elections to a collegial body (parliament), in which candidates who receive a majority of votes in their constituency are considered elected. Depending on what kind of majority it is (relative, absolute or qualified), the system has variations.

Under a qualified majority system, the law sets a certain share of the votes that a candidate (list of candidates) must receive in order to be elected. This share is greater than the absolute majority, i.e. more than 50% plus one vote. If no one wins in the first round under a qualified majority system, a second round follows, usually held one to two weeks later. In the second round, under this system, the two candidates with the largest number of votes compared to the others are usually nominated for a new vote.

In a majoritarian system of relative majority, to win the election, a candidate must win more votes than each of the other candidates, even if less than half of the voters voted for him. It is effective: the only case where there may not be a result is if two or more candidates receive the same largest number of votes. Such cases are quite rare, and legislative resolution of the situation is usually a matter of lottery. This system was used as the only one for the election of either house of parliament (or both houses) by 43 states, including the United States and a number of member states of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The system (this applies to all varieties of the majoritarian system) can be used in both single-member and multi-member electoral districts.

The majoritarian system of relative majority is one of the least democratic electoral systems, the main disadvantages of which are: 1) a significant number of votes remain “thrown out” and are not taken into account when distributing mandates; 2) the picture of the real balance of political forces in the country is distorted: the party that receives a minority of votes receives a majority of parliamentary seats. The potential injustice inherent in this electoral system is more clearly manifested in conjunction with special methods of dividing electoral districts, called “electoral geometry” and “electoral geography.”

The essence of “electoral geometry” is that it is necessary to cut up electoral districts in such a way as to ensure in advance, while maintaining their formal equality, the advantage of supporters of one of the parties, dispersing supporters of other parties in small numbers across different districts, and concentrating their maximum number in 1 --2 districts. In other words, the party that is cutting up electoral districts will try to cut them out in such a way as to “drive” the maximum number of voters voting for the rival party into one or two districts, deliberately going to “lose” them, thereby ensuring victory for yourself in other districts. Formally, the equality of the districts is not violated, but in fact the election results are predetermined. By allowing the formation of constituencies for another party, we will get the opposite result.

The legislation of a number of foreign countries (USA, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan), like the Russian legislator, also proceeds from the fact that it is practically impossible to form absolutely equal electoral districts, and therefore sets a maximum percentage (usually 25% or 33%) deviations of districts in terms of the number of voters from the average district in one direction or another. This is the basis for the application of “selective geography,” referred to in the United States as “gerrymandering.”

The purpose of "electoral geography" is to make the voice of the more conservative rural voter weigh more than that of the urban voter by creating more constituencies in rural areas with fewer voters than in urban areas. As a result, with an equal number of voters living in urban and rural areas, 2-3 times more constituencies can be formed in the latter.

The advantage of the relative majority system is that voting is carried out in one round, since the winner is determined immediately. This makes elections much cheaper.

Under the absolute majority majority system, the winner is the candidate who wins 50% plus 1 vote of all voters participating in the voting. If no candidate receives the required number of votes, a second round is scheduled, in which the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round take part. In the second round, the winner is the candidate who receives a relative majority of votes. The advantage of this system compared to the system of relative majority is that candidates supported by a real majority of voters who voted are considered elected, even if this majority is one vote. But the same defect remains, which is the main one in the system of relative majority: votes cast against the winning candidates are lost.

The majoritarian electoral system, both relative and absolute majorities, does not imply holding elections on a purely party basis. Along with candidates nominated by political parties, independent candidates are also fighting for mandates. And voters, when voting in elections, often give preference to one candidate or another not as a representative of a particular party, but as a trustworthy politician.

A proportional electoral system is a procedure for determining election results in which mandates are distributed between parties that nominated their candidates to a representative body in accordance with the number of votes they received.

The proportional electoral system is based on the principle of party representation. Under such a system, parties put forward ranked lists of candidates for which voters are invited to vote.

The voter actually votes for a political party (pre-election bloc or coalition of parties, if their creation is permitted by law), which, in his opinion, most adequately and consistently expresses and protects his interests in the political system. Mandates are distributed between parties in proportion to the number of votes cast for them in percentage terms.

Seats in the representative body of government that a political party (electoral bloc) has received are occupied by candidates from the party list in accordance with the priority established by the party. For example, a party that received 20% of the votes in parliamentary elections in a single national 450-seat electoral district should receive 90 deputy mandates.

They will be received by the first 90 candidates from the corresponding party list. Thus, a proportional electoral system is a system for forming elected bodies of power on the basis of party representation, in which deputy seats (mandates) in a representative body of power are distributed in accordance with the number of votes received by parties in percentage terms. This system ensures adequate representation of political interests in elected bodies of power.

In a proportional electoral system, unlike a majoritarian one, the loss of votes is minimal and is most often associated with the so-called “electoral threshold” - the minimum number of votes that a party must win in elections in order to gain the right to participate in the distribution of mandates. The electoral barrier is established in order to limit access to representative bodies of power for small, often marginal, uninfluential parties. The votes that do not bring mandates to such parties are distributed (also proportionally) among the winning parties. Like the majoritarian system, the proportional electoral system has its own variations. There are two types of proportional systems:

- a proportional system with a single nationwide multi-member electoral district, the number of mandates in which corresponds to the number of seats in the elected government: only national parties nominate their lists of candidates, voters vote for these lists throughout the country;
- proportional electoral system with multi-member districts. political parties form lists of candidates in electoral districts; accordingly, deputy mandates “up for grabs” in the district are distributed based on the influence of the party in this district.

There is also a mixed or majoritarian-proportional system, which, however, does not represent a separate, independent type of electoral system, but is characterized by a mechanical unification, the parallel operation of two main systems.

A mixed electoral system is a system for the formation of representative bodies of power, in which some of the deputies are elected on a personal basis in majoritarian constituencies, and the other part is elected on a party basis according to the proportional representation principle. The voter casts one vote for a specific candidate running in a given electoral district, the other for a political party.

Mixed electoral systems are usually distinguished by the nature of the relationship between the elements of the majoritarian and proportional systems used in them. On this basis, two types of mixed systems are distinguished:

- a mixed unrelated election system, in which the distribution of mandates under a majoritarian system does not depend in any way on the results of elections under a proportional system (the examples given above are precisely examples of a mixed unrelated electoral system);
- a mixed coupled electoral system, in which the distribution of seats under the majoritarian system depends on the results of elections under the proportional system. In this case, candidates in majoritarian districts are nominated by political parties participating in elections according to the proportional system. Mandates received by parties in majoritarian districts are distributed depending on the election results using a proportional system.

1 Essence and types of electoral systems

The electoral system is the procedure for organizing and conducting elections to representative institutions or an individual leading representative (for example, the president of the country), enshrined in legal norms, as well as the established practice of state and public organizations.

The types of electoral systems are determined by the principles of forming a representative body of power and the corresponding procedure for distributing mandates based on voting results, also provided for in election legislation. Since in different countries the principles of forming elected bodies of power and the procedure for distributing mandates are different, in reality there are as many modifications of electoral systems as there are states that use elections to form government bodies. However, the centuries-old history of the development of representative democracy has developed two basic types of electoral systems - majoritarian and proportional, the elements of which are one way or another manifested in various models of electoral systems in different countries.

1. Majoritarian electoral system

The majoritarian electoral system is based on a system of personal representation in power. A specific person is always nominated as a candidate for a particular elective position in a majoritarian system.

The mechanism for nominating candidates can be different: in some countries self-nomination is allowed along with the nomination of candidates from political parties or public associations, in other countries candidates can only be nominated by political parties. But in any case, in a majoritarian constituency, candidates run on a personal basis. Accordingly, the voter in this case votes for an individually determined candidate, who is an independent subject of the electoral process - a citizen exercising his passive electoral right. Another thing is that this particular candidate may be supported by any political party. However, formally, a citizen is elected not from a party, but “on his own.”

As a rule, in most cases, elections under a majoritarian system are carried out in single-mandate electoral districts. The number of electoral districts in this case corresponds to the number of mandates. The winner in each district is the candidate who receives the legally required majority of votes from the district's voters. The majority in different countries can be different: absolute, in which a candidate must receive more than 50% of the votes to receive a mandate; relative, in which the winner is the candidate who received more votes than all other candidates (provided that fewer votes were cast against all candidates than for the winning candidate); qualified, in which a candidate, in order to win the election, must receive more than 2/3, 75% or 3/4 of the votes. The majority of votes can also be calculated in different ways - either from the total number of voters in the district, or, most often, from the number of voters who came to the elections and voted. The absolute majority system involves voting in two rounds if in the first round none of the candidates achieves the required majority. The candidates who received a relative majority of votes in the first round participate in the second round. This system of costs is from a financial point of view, but is used in presidential elections in most countries of the world, including in Russia.

Thus, the majoritarian electoral system is a system for the formation of elected authorities on the basis of personal (individual) representation, in which the candidate who receives the majority of votes required by law is considered elected.

2. Proportional electoral system

The proportional electoral system is based on the principle of party representation. Under such a system, parties put forward ranked lists of candidates for which voters are invited to vote.

A proportional system with a single national multi-member electoral district, the number of mandates in which corresponds to the number of seats in the elected body of government: only national parties nominate their lists of candidates, voters vote for these lists throughout the country;

Proportional electoral system with multi-member districts. political parties form lists of candidates in electoral districts; accordingly, deputy mandates “up for grabs” in the district are distributed based on the influence of the party in this district.

3. Mixed electoral system

Attempts to make maximum use of the advantages of basic electoral systems and neutralize their shortcomings lead to the emergence of mixed electoral systems. The essence of the mixed electoral system is that part of the deputies to the same representative body of power is elected according to the majoritarian system, and the other part - according to the proportional system. It is planned to create majoritarian electoral districts (most often single-member, less often multi-member) and electoral districts (with a proportional system with multi-member districts) or a single national multi-member electoral district for voting on party lists of candidates. Accordingly, the voter receives the right to simultaneously vote for a candidate (candidates) running in a majoritarian district on a personal basis and for a political party (list of candidates from a political party). In reality, when carrying out the voting procedure, a voter receives at least two ballots: one to vote for a specific candidate in a majoritarian district, the other to vote for a party.

Consequently, a mixed electoral system is a system for the formation of representative bodies of power, in which some of the deputies are elected on a personal basis in majoritarian districts, and the other part is elected on a party basis according to the proportional representation principle.

A mixed unrelated election system, in which the distribution of mandates under a majoritarian system does not depend in any way on the results of elections under a proportional system (the examples given above are just examples of a mixed unrelated electoral system);

A mixed coupled electoral system, in which the distribution of seats under a majoritarian system depends on the results of elections under a proportional system. In this case, candidates in majoritarian districts are nominated by political parties participating in elections according to the proportional system. Mandates received by parties in majoritarian districts are distributed depending on the election results using a proportional system.

2 Election campaign

An election campaign is a system of campaigning activities carried out by candidates for elected positions and their parties in the electoral struggle, after official approval as such, in order to ensure maximum voter support in the upcoming elections.

An important part of any political system in democratic states is the regular holding of elections to representative bodies of government at various levels, as well as supreme bodies, as well as senior officials of the country and heads of local executive power. Simultaneously with the strengthening and development of democratic traditions, the forms and methods of influencing public opinion, voters, as well as lobbying and public activities of various kinds are being improved.

There are two common approaches to understanding the electoral system in the legal literature: broad and narrow.

In a broad sense The electoral system is understood as a set of social relations that develop regarding the formation of state authorities and local self-government through the implementation of the electoral rights of citizens.

Narrow understanding The electoral system is associated, as a rule, with methods (techniques) of establishing voting results and determining the winner of the elections and is considered as a kind of legal formula with the help of which the results of the election campaign are determined at the final stage of the elections.

Types of electoral systems

Taken together, they provide the most complete picture of the elements that make up the electoral system, the different combinations and content of which determine the identification of different types of electoral systems.

The current election legislation provides for the possibility of using the following types of electoral systems: majoritarian, proportional and mixed (majority-proportional) electoral system.

Majoritarian electoral system

The essence of the majoritarian system is to divide the territory in which elections are held into electoral districts in which voters vote personally for certain candidates. To be elected, a candidate (candidates, if elections are held in multi-member electoral districts) must receive a majority of the votes of voters who took part in the voting. From a legal point of view, the majoritarian electoral system is distinguished by its universality of application, which allows it to be used for the election of both collegial bodies and individual officials. The right to nominate candidates under this electoral system is vested in both citizens by way of self-nomination, as well as political parties (electoral associations). When vacant mandates arise, due, among other things, to the early termination of powers of deputies (elected officials), it is mandatory to hold new (additional, early or repeat) elections.

Proportional electoral system used in the elections of deputies to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. In the subjects of the Federation in its pure form it is rarely found (Dagestan, Ingushetia, Amur Region, Sverdlovsk Region, St. Petersburg). As for municipal elections, a proportional electoral system is generally uncharacteristic for them. A rare exception in this regard is the city of S Pass k-Dalniy, Primorsky Territory, whose charter provides for the election of all deputies of the city district according to party lists.

Mixed electoral system

A mixed (majoritarian-proportional) electoral system is a combination of majoritarian and proportional systems with a legally established number of deputy mandates distributed for each of them. Its use makes it possible to combine the advantages and smooth out the disadvantages of the majoritarian and proportional systems. At the same time, political parties (electoral associations) have the opportunity to nominate the same persons as candidates both as part of the party list and in single-mandate (multi-member) electoral districts. The law only requires that in the event of simultaneous nomination in a single-mandate (multi-member) electoral district and as part of the list of candidates, information about this must be indicated in the ballot prepared for voting in the corresponding single-mandate (multi-member) constituency

The mixed system is currently used in the elections of legislative (representative) bodies of state power in almost all subjects of the Federation. This is due to the fact that the Federal Law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in Referendums of Citizens of the Russian Federation” (Article 35) requires that at least half of the deputy mandates in the legislative (representative) body of state power of the subject of the Federation or in one of its chambers were to be distributed among lists of candidates nominated by electoral associations in proportion to the number of votes received by each of the lists of candidates.

When holding elections of deputies to representative bodies of municipalities, the mixed majoritarian-proportional system is used much less frequently. In all likelihood, this is due to the fact that federal legislation does not require the mandatory use of elements of the proportional system in relation to the municipal level in the formation of representative bodies of government.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal Agency for Education State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education

All-Russian Correspondence Financial and Economic Institute

Department of Political Science

Test

in political science on the topic:

Types of Electoral Systems

Kirov - 2010

Introduction.

1. The concept of “electoral system” and its structure.

2. Majoritarian and proportional electoral systems, their advantages and disadvantages.

Describe the main parameters and features of the modern Russian electoral system. Explain the political meaning of the transition to a proportional system in elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

Literature.

INTRODUCTION

Elections are the fundamental means of forming the bodies of the Russian Federation. Government bodies are formed in two ways: through elections and through appointment. However, appointments to senior positions in the executive and judicial authorities are made by elected bodies. Thus, elections provide the highest electoral legitimacy to the entire structure of government bodies. In the Russian state, at the federal level, one chamber of the Federal Assembly, the State Duma, and the head of state, the President of the Russian Federation, are directly elected. It is in them that the highest power-forming will of the people is embodied and they give the main impetus to the formation of all executive and judicial powers at the federal level. State authorities in the constituent entities of the Federation, as well as local government bodies, are formed on an elective basis.

Elections, like a referendum, are a legalized form of direct popular expression, the most important manifestation of democracy. Through elections, citizens influence the formation of government bodies and thereby exercise their right to participate in the management of public affairs. Civil society, based on the pluralism of opinions and interests of people, is not able to ensure voluntary law-abiding citizens, avoid acute social explosions, and perhaps even bloody clashes, if public authorities are not formed on a fair electoral basis with the participation of the citizens themselves. Democratic elections are the antithesis of civil war and the use of force to resolve the issue of power.

Free democratic elections are alien to a totalitarian state. In fascist and communist states, formal elections , which were a complete farce. The elections were held under the control of the authorities, their results were often falsified. During the Soviet period, for example, people's representatives traditionally received, according to official data, 98-99 percent of the votes cast, party bodies selected candidates loyal to themselves, supposedly for a mirror image in the representative bodies of all social groups of the population.

Elections directly reflect the political system and, for their part, influence it. Their entire organization and procedure for determining voting results are closely related to political parties. For example, electoral systems and elections based on them differ in two-party and multi-party systems. Elections allow citizens to understand the true meaning of the programs of political parties fighting for power. Through them, and only through them, the will of the majority of the people is revealed, on the basis of which a democratic government can be created.

1. The concept of “electoral system” and its structure

elections electoral system majoritarian proportional

In Russian scientific literature, there are two approaches to understanding the concept of “electoral system” - broad and narrow.

The electoral system in a broad sense is a set of legal norms governing the procedure for granting electoral rights.<#"justify">As we already know, in Russia there are two main types of electoral systems: proportional and majoritarian. The first means that deputy mandates in parliamentary elections are distributed in proportion to the votes cast, and the second means the distribution of mandates among electoral districts based on the majority of votes cast (the absolute majority system, when the winner is the candidate who received 50 percent of the votes plus one from voters who voted, or the relative system majority, when the winner is the one who received simply more votes than any other candidate).

The majoritarian system has single-member constituencies where a simple majority wins. This happens in the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, India and Japan. Single-member districts have the advantage of being able to unite dozens of small parties around one of two traditional parties - Conservative or Labor, Republican or Democratic. In countries with proportional electoral systems, multi-member constituencies are used and parliamentary seats are allocated in proportion to the percentage of votes received in a given constituency. In Anglo-American single-member constituencies, the winner takes all seats. In multi-member districts, the winner receives only his/her allotted percentage of the vote. The proportional electoral system does not give parties any reward for sticking together. Moreover, proportional representation even encourages divisions in parties and movements. In the elections of December 12, 1993 to the Federal Assembly in Russia, the movement Democratic Russia performed in four small parties.

Proportional-majoritarian elections in one round under a two-party system provide the opportunity for leading parties to alternately rise to the top of government power. Majoritarian elections in two rounds allow each party, even a small one, to act independently at the first stage, which creates conditions for the formation of a multi-party system. The proportional voting system provokes the ambitions of political leaders to create new parties. However, in elections their intentions are limited to obtaining 5 percent or more of the vote. Without gaining them, the party does not have the right to be represented in parliament. Russia's multi-party system in all these respects is still in its formation stage.

In the Russian literature on legal issues of the electoral system, the following alternative was proposed. The fact is that, according to Vadim Belotserkovsky: the small number of parties and at the same time their large number makes their dependence on nomenklatura-mafia circles, on state power and related commercial structures, to which dwarf parties must bow, inevitable. It is almost impossible for them to get into parliament with their own strength and money. In these conditions, the majority of deputies find themselves under the strict control of these circles and structures, and there can no longer be any talk of democracy. There is no one to represent the people in parliament. In this situation, a system of elections based on the production principle could provide a way out of the impasse. That is, when deputies are nominated and elected at enterprises, institutions and workers’ associations - individual farmers - farmers, writers, artisans, lawyers, private entrepreneurs. In other words, we are talking about returning to the system of elections of the original Soviets, but not on a class basis, but on a public basis, so that all layers of society are represented in the legislative bodies of power. Private entrepreneurs - in proportion to the share of the private sector in the gross product.

In elections based on the production principle, candidates and parties no longer need to seek support from the authorities and financial structures. Candidates won't need a penny to campaign at their place of work! It is also equally important that voters will always know very well who they are voting for - after all, it will be their colleagues! - they will be able to easily control the deputies they have elected and recall them if the deputies begin to defend other people’s interests. During territorial elections, district voters, working in different places, are practically unable to organize to control the deputies. With elections on a production basis, it will no longer matter how many parties there are in the country, and the problem of a quorum of voters will disappear. Falsification of results will also become impossible.

Thus, elections on the basis under discussion are capable of undermining the dominance of the nomenklatura and the mafia over the legislative branch, and after it, over the executive and judicial power. The production-based election system is already well established in the world. They are used in the formation of central boards of large concerns with many branches, boards of cooperative associations and federations of employee-owned enterprises. There is now an opinion spreading throughout the world that everywhere the party-territorial election system is leading to a crisis, does not correspond to modern concepts of democracy and should be reformed towards more direct representation of various social strata.

Majoritarian electoral system is one of the types of electoral systems in which candidates who receive a majority of votes in the electoral district in which they are running are considered elected; used in many countries, including Russia.

The majoritarian electoral system has its own varieties and consists of the following. The territory of a state or a representative body is divided into territorial units - often one, but sometimes two or more deputies are elected from each. Each candidate is nominated and elected in his personal capacity, although it may be indicated which party or movement he represents. If, in order to win, a candidate must receive not only a majority of votes, but also at least half of the number of voters who took part in the vote, then in this case it is customary to talk about a majoritarian electoral system of an absolute majority. If a candidate who receives more votes than his rivals is considered the winner, and it does not matter how much this amounts to from the number of voters who voted, such a system is usually called a majoritarian electoral system of a relative majority. If a certain number of votes is needed to win (for example, 25, 30, 40% 2/3 of the number of voters participating in the election) - this is a majoritarian qualified majority electoral system.

Voting under the majoritarian electoral system of relative majority is carried out in one round, and under other types - in two rounds. The two candidates who received the most votes advance to the second round, and the winner may be the one who received a certain number of votes or more votes than the opponent. The advantages of the majoritarian electoral system are that it is effective - it gives winners; in addition, voting is subjective - the voter gives preference to a specific person; MPs must maintain constant contact with voters, hoping for their support in the next elections. The disadvantage of the majoritarian electoral system is that votes cast for non-winning candidates are lost, and the winner in this case has the support of another clear minority of voters, i.e. we can talk about the low representativeness of such a deputy.

In the Russian Federation, for elections to the State Duma since 1993, the principle of combining a proportional and majoritarian electoral system has been applied. At the same time, the majoritarian electoral system looks like this: it has been established that 225 (i.e. half) State Duma deputies are elected on the basis of a majoritarian electoral system in single-mandate (one district - one mandate) electoral districts formed in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation on the basis of a single norm of representation, for with the exception of electoral districts formed in constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the number of voters in which is less than the average number of voters established by the Central Election Commission for a single-mandate district. To win in the district, you need to get more votes than other candidates, i.e. This is a majoritarian electoral system of a relative majority. An election is considered valid if at least 25% of registered voters have voted.

The elections of half of the State Duma deputies were held under the majoritarian electoral system in 1993 and 1995. It may be recalled that in 1993 deputies were also elected to the Federation Council - two from each subject of the Russian Federation. A majoritarian electoral system of relative majority was used, with the difference that the district was two-mandate; The electoral district was the territory of each subject of the Russian Federation. As for the elections of representative bodies of government of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, in 1993 they were given the opportunity to introduce both a majoritarian and a mixed majoritarian-proportional system. However, in all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, elections of bodies of representative power are held by electoral districts. Some subjects simultaneously formed two types of such constituencies: ordinary (based on the number of voters) and administrative-territorial (i.e., a district or city, respectively, became a constituency, from which a deputy was elected to the parliament of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation). In elections to representative bodies of local self-government (i.e., assemblies, city and district councils), deputies are elected using a majoritarian electoral system. At the same time, often the entire territory is a single multi-member constituency. However, each deputy is elected in his personal capacity, which is precisely characteristic of a majoritarian electoral system.

In a majoritarian system of qualified majority, the candidate (list of candidates) who receives a qualified majority of votes is considered elected. The qualified majority is established by law and, in any case, exceeds the absolute majority. Such a system is extremely rare, since it is even less effective than the system of an absolute majority.

For example, in Chile, the Chamber of Deputies (lower house of parliament) is elected in two-member constituencies. The party that collects 2/3 of the total number of valid votes in the district receives both mandates from the district. If such a majority is not received by any of the parties, the mandates are transferred to the two parties that collected the largest number of votes. Until recently, 65% of the vote was required to elect Italian senators running in single-member constituencies. In practice, as a rule, none of the candidates received such a majority; electoral districts were united across the region, and the distribution of mandates was carried out according to the rules of the system of proportional representation, discussed below. After the April 1993 referendum, a majority system of relative majority was established in single-member districts for elections to the Senate (such districts are also provided for elections to the Chamber of Deputies).

The proportional electoral system is one of the types of electoral systems used in many countries, including Russia. The proportional electoral system has many varieties, but its essence is as follows. The territory of the state or representative body is declared a single electoral district. Political parties and movements, their unions put forward lists of their candidates. The voter votes for one of these lists. Victory in this case is proportional to the number of votes cast for the corresponding list of the electoral association, and counting is often carried out only on lists that received more than 5% (for example, Germany, the Russian Federation; there may be another percentage - in particular, 4% in Sweden, 3 - in Argentina, 2 - in Denmark, 1% in Israel). The total number of votes of voters who took part in the voting is divided by the total number of deputy mandates filled under the proportional electoral system. The result is a selective quotient. This is how it is determined how many parties or movements have received seats in the representative body. Within the list, candidates receive mandates according to their order, starting from the first. If the list is divided into the central part and regional groups, candidates from the central part enter parliament first. Candidates from regional groups receive mandates in proportion to the votes cast for a given list in the corresponding region.

The advantage of the proportional electoral system is that votes are not lost (except for those cast for a list that does not exceed the 5% threshold). The disadvantage of the proportional electoral system is that here the voter chooses, as it were, abstract persons - he most often knows the leader of the party, movement, several activists, but the rest are unknown to him. In addition, elected deputies do not have a direct connection with the voters of a particular district, as in a majoritarian system. In order to take into account the interests of voters, many countries divide the list into territorial parts. Some countries have abandoned linked lists (when a voter votes for the list as a whole) and switched to a free list system - the voter has the right to give preference to candidates from the list of a party, movement, and even supplement the list.

Many deputies, politicians and researchers consider the high percentage barrier to be a disadvantage of the proportional electoral system. The proportional electoral system is used in the elections of the entire parliament (Denmark, Portugal, Luxembourg, Latvia), or only the lower house (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Brazil), or ½ composition of the lower chamber (Germany, Russian Federation). In the Russian Federation, the proportional electoral system is used to elect half of the 225 deputies of the State Duma.

Each electoral association or bloc can include up to 270 people in the federal electoral list of deputy candidates. It is possible to allocate the central part to the lists and distribute the remaining candidates among regions consisting of groups or individual subjects of the Russian Federation. Only electoral associations, blocs that received more than 5% of the votes of voters who took part in the voting, participate in the distribution of deputy mandates.

Electoral quotient is the number of votes per deputy mandate. In Russia, it is used when counting votes and determining the number of seats provided to parties and movements that received parliamentary mandates and nominated their electoral lists for elections to the State Duma in the federal electoral district.

3. Describe the main parameters and features of the modern Russian electoral system. Explain the political meaning of the transition to a proportional system in elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation

The modern electoral system of Russia is very young. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, electoral legislation falls under the current jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and its constituent entities. This means that during elections to their bodies of state power, the subjects of the Federation are obliged to comply with federal legislation on elections and at the same time independently adopt such laws. Such a solution to the issue, on the one hand, ensures a certain uniformity in the electoral systems of the Federation and its subjects, and on the other hand, it gives rise to differences in the electoral systems of the subjects of the Federation. The differences can be considered insignificant, but they still exist, so it is impossible to talk about the electoral system in the subjects of the Federation as a single system for all. The assertion that in the Russian Federation there is one federal electoral system and 89 electoral systems of the constituent entities of the Federation is not without foundation.

To this should be added a significant number of electoral systems for elections to local self-government bodies that do not coincide in many details. Elections to government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local self-government bodies are held in accordance with the constitutions and charters, election laws adopted by the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation. If there is no such law, then elections of the state authority of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation and local government are carried out on the basis of federal law. Elections of deputies to the relevant government bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are carried out on the basis of universal, equal, direct suffrage by secret ballot.

These principles, enshrined in the constitutions and charters of the constituent entities of the Federation, apply throughout the territory of the Russian Federation by virtue of its Constitution and federal laws. However, the constitutions, charters and laws of the subjects of the Federation, as a rule, limit the principle of universality of suffrage, narrowing the circle of persons who have the right to vote (active suffrage) and be elected to government bodies of the subjects of the Federation. For example, in the Republic of Buryatia (as in other republics) their own citizenship was introduced, and only citizens of the Republic of Buryatia are granted by the Constitution the right to elect and be elected to government bodies of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Buryatia, local government bodies, as well as to participate in the referendum of the Russian Federation and Republic of Buryatia.

In many subjects of the Federation that do not have their own citizenship, a rule has been introduced according to which the right to vote is given only to those citizens who permanently reside in the given territory. The legislation of the subjects of the Federation establishes the residence qualification for the elections of deputies to legislative bodies and heads of administrations (executive power). Federal law allows the subjects of the Federation to establish periods of compulsory residence on their territory, which, however, cannot exceed one year.

In accordance with this, for example, the Law of St. Petersburg On the elections of the head of the executive power of St. Petersburg it is stipulated that a citizen of the Russian Federation can be elected governor of the city who, meeting other conditions, resides in the territory of St. Petersburg for one year, and the fact of residence in this territory is established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

However, in many subjects of the Federation the requirements of the Federal Law are violated, and the number of qualifications is increasing. In a number of Republics, the Head of the Republic or Chairman of the State Council is at least 15 years in the Republics of Tyva and Sakha (Yakutia), at least 10 years in the Republics of Adygia, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Komi, Tatarstan. In the Republic of Karelia there is a period of at least 7 years before the elections; residence in the republic for at least 10 years after reaching adulthood.

The Moscow Charter establishes that a citizen who has permanently resided in the city for at least 10 years can be elected mayor of the city; in the Charters of the Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, and Tambov regions this period is 5 years. Federal law On the basic guarantees of electoral rights and the right to participate in a referendum of citizens of the Russian Federation It has been established that restrictions on passive suffrage associated with permanent or primary residence in a certain territory (residence qualification) are not permitted by federal law or the law of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. Earlier (June 24, 1997) a similar resolution (on Khakassian cause ) was ruled by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

Elections to the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation are held on the basis of various vote counting systems. There are both a majoritarian system of an absolute majority (single-member districts formed on the basis of a single norm of representation) and a proportional system. Mixed systems are also very common, when one part of the deputies is elected on the basis of a majoritarian system, and the other on the basis of a proportional system. For example, elections to the Moscow Regional Duma are held in single-mandate electoral districts in which 25 deputies are elected. In the Sverdlovsk region, one of the chambers of the Legislative Assembly - the regional Duma is elected on the basis of a system of proportional representation in the general regional electoral district, and elections to the second chamber - the House of Representatives are carried out on the basis of a majority system of relative majority in electoral districts in the region. These are the features inherent in various electoral systems of the subjects of the Federation for the election of deputies of representative bodies of state power. Elections of heads of administrations (governors, presidents, heads of executive power) are carried out in two main forms: by the population itself and by the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Federation.

The system for electing heads of administrations by the population is in many ways reminiscent of the system for electing the President of the Russian Federation: it provides for the election of the candidate who received more than half of the votes from the legally established minimum of voters who took part in the elections, the possibility of a second round of voting, etc. The procedure for preparing and holding elections, with minor differences, includes those the same stages established by federal legislation. This is, first of all, the appointment of elections and the formation of republican (territorial, regional, etc.) election commissions, which are usually assigned to the head of the administration (president, governor) of the subject of the Federation. Precinct election commissions are formed, which compile voter lists. The nomination and registration of candidates is practically no different from the federal level, although the number of signatures required is, of course, smaller. Special acts regulate pre-election campaigning in order to ensure equal opportunities for every candidate and electoral association to use the media.

According to the general rule corresponding to the federal level, voting takes place and the voting results are determined. Elections to local government bodies are regulated by both federal laws and legislative acts of the constituent entities of the Federation. In accordance with Federal Law On the general principles of organizing local self-government in the Russian Federation dated August 28, 1995, the representative body of local self-government and the head of the municipality are elected by citizens on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot in accordance with federal laws and the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The Federal Law approved the General Provisions on Elections to Local Self-Government Bodies, on the basis of which the subjects of the Federation introduced specific electoral systems at the local level. Thus, the right to be elected to local government bodies (passive suffrage) is granted to citizens over the age of 18, and the date of elections to these bodies is determined by the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation. Shortened deadlines have been introduced for announcing the date of elections - from 2 months to 2 weeks before election day. To conduct elections, the heads of the local administration form only a territorial (district) election commission and precinct commissions, and to conduct elections at the lowest levels (street, small settlement, etc.) - only one commission. Usually, for an election to be recognized as valid, the participation of at least 25 percent of registered voters is required, and the candidate who receives more votes than his opponent is considered elected (majority system of relative majority).

Uncontested voting is also allowed, but in this case the only candidate must receive more than half the votes of the voters who took part in the elections to be elected. If a subject of the Russian Federation has not adopted a law on elections to local government bodies, then the procedure for such elections is regulated by Federal Law On ensuring the constitutional rights of citizens of the Russian Federation to elect and be elected to local government bodies dated November 26, 1996 and the Temporary Regulations attached thereto.

Literature

1. Federal Law of December 20, 2005 N 51-FZ “On the election of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation” // SZ RF. 2005. N 21.

2. Federal Law of December 6, 1994 N 56-FZ “On the Basic Guarantees of the Electoral Rights of Citizens of the Russian Federation” // SZ RF. 1994. N 33.

Avdeenkova M., Dmitriev Yu. Modern electoral systems // Elections. Legislation and technology. 2000. N 7-8.

Mikhaleva G.M. Features of electoral systems // Journal of Elections. 2003. N 1.

5.K.S. Gadzhiev. Introduction to Political Science. On the prospects for the development of the party system in Russia. Article.

Yu.A.Dmitriev, V.B.Israelyan. Suffrage. Textbook.

Fundamentals of Political Science. Textbook. M.: New School, 1996.

Political science. Textbook for universities. V.N. Lavrinenko, A.S. Grechin, V.Yu. Doroshenko and others. M.: UNITI, 2002.

Tutorial. Political science. Kashanina T.V. M.: Bustard, 2007.

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The main electoral systems are assessed according to three criteria: 1) representativeness, that is, the ability to reflect the existing spectrum of political forces in parliament; 2) simplicity of the election mechanism; 3) correctability of election results in case of disappointment of voters in deputies.

Historically, the first electoral system was majoritarian system, which is based on the principle of the majority (French majorite - majority): those candidates who received the established majority of votes are considered elected. Depending on what kind of majority it is (relative, absolute or qualified), the system has variations. Later in the work, I will take a closer look at these varieties.

Already at the dawn of the formation of the constitutional system, ideas began to be put forward proportional representation of political associations, in which the number of mandates received by such an association corresponds to the number of votes cast for its candidates. The practically proportional system was first used in Belgium in 1889. By the beginning of the twentieth century, there were 152 varieties of it. Now it exists in more than 60 countries.

Mixed system involves a combination of elements of the majority and proportional systems in various variations. Its formation began in the post-war period; it was supposed to incorporate the positive characteristics of the majoritarian and proportional systems.

Majoritarian electoral system. Under a qualified majority system, the law sets a certain share of the votes that a candidate (list of candidates) must receive in order to be elected.

This share is greater than the absolute majority, i.e. more than 50% plus one vote. If no one wins in the first round under a qualified majority system, a second round follows, usually held one to two weeks later. In the second round, under this system, the two candidates with the largest number of votes compared to the others are usually nominated for a new vote.

In a majoritarian system of relative majority, to win the election, a candidate must win more votes than each of the other candidates, even if less than half of the voters voted for him.

It is effective: the only case where there may not be a result is if two or more candidates receive the same largest number of votes.

Such cases are quite rare, and legislative resolution of the situation is usually a matter of lottery. This system was used as the only one for the election of either house of parliament (or both houses) by 43 states, including the United States and a number of member states of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The system (this applies to all varieties of the majoritarian system) can be used in both single-member and multi-member electoral districts.

The majoritarian system of relative majority is one of the least democratic electoral systems, the main defects of which are:

2) the picture of the real balance of political forces in the country is distorted: the party that receives a minority of votes receives a majority of parliamentary seats. The advantage of the relative majority system is that voting is carried out in one round, since the winner is determined immediately. This makes elections much cheaper. Under the absolute majority majority system, the winner is the candidate who wins 50% plus 1 vote of all voters participating in the voting. If no candidate receives the required number of votes, a second round is scheduled, in which the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round take part. In the second round, the winner is the candidate who receives a relative majority of votes. The advantage of this system compared to the system of relative majority is that candidates supported by a real majority of voters who voted are considered elected, even if this majority is one vote. But the same defect remains, which is the main one in the system of relative majority: votes cast against the winning candidates are lost. The majoritarian electoral system, both relative and absolute majorities, does not imply holding elections on a purely party basis. Along with candidates nominated by political parties, independent candidates are also fighting for mandates. And voters, when voting in elections, often give preference to one candidate or another not as a representative of a particular party, but as a trustworthy politician.

Proportional electoral system. This system involves the distribution of seats in parliament in accordance with the number (percentage of votes received in elections according to party lists in a single national electoral district or in several large regional constituencies. This system is used, as a rule, in parliamentary elections (all of continental Western Europe, with the exception of France, half of the deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, etc.).

Seats are allocated either by the largest remainder, the highest average, or based on an electoral quota.

The electoral quota is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast in the district by the number of mandates to be distributed, i.e. the minimum number of votes that a party needs to gain in order to receive one mandate is determined.

According to the largest remainder method, undistributed mandates are given to parties with the largest remaining votes.

The distribution of mandates using the largest average method is somewhat more complicated, when the remaining mandates are distributed among the parties that have the largest average. To calculate the average of each list, it is necessary to divide the number of votes cast for a party by the number of mandates it received plus one.

The advantage of the proportional system is its representativeness, which ensures the most adequate representation of various parties in parliament and gives voters the opportunity to rank their choices. It provides feedback between the state and civil society, promotes the development of pluralism and a multi-party system.

At the same time, the system does not fully meet the criterion of simplicity, since it requires the average voter to be widely aware of the positions of the parties. It can also become a source of destabilization of society if the orientation of the party for which voters voted changes, as well as as a result of an intra-party split after the elections.

The advantages of a proportional election system are realized with an established multi-party system. In the absence of one, this system can lead to the emergence of a fragmented parliamentary corps and frequent changes of governments, which will weaken the effectiveness of the democratic system.

Mixed electoral system. Elections are held in Germany and Russia based on a mixed electoral system. In a number of countries, in order to combine the benefits of different systems and avoid their disadvantages, or at least significantly mitigate these disadvantages, mixed electoral systems are being created, which in one way or another combine elements of both majoritarian and proportional systems.

The essence of the mixed system is that part of the deputy corps is elected according to the majoritarian system, and part - according to the proportional system. The voter casts one vote for a specific candidate running in a given electoral district, the other for a political party.

In accordance with the mixed type of electoral system implemented in Russia, the country's highest legislative body consists of: 225 deputies of the State Duma, representing influential political forces; 176 deputies of the Federation Council - representatives from administrative-territorial units (2 from each subject).