..Write short note on Functional Representation.
. The Functional representation means that the seats for
Answers
The Functional representation means that the seats for each profession should be fixed in the legislatures. The voters from each profession should elect their representatives separately to the legislatures. A great writer of Political Science, Prof. Duiguit is of the opinion that industry, trade and commerce, science,literature, art, etc. should be given their representation in the legislatures.
Arguments in favour of FunctionalRepresentation:
1. One representative cannot do justice to all the interests: It is also said that one representative cannot represent all the interests of a territorial constituency. A person can represent best the interest of that profession in which he is interested most. He cannot do justice with the people of other professions.
2. Remedy for the defects of territorial representation: It is said that functional representation is the remedy for all the defects of territorial representation. The legislature, composed of representatives elected by specialized interest or functions would be a true representative house of the people.
Answer:
Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body.[1] The concept applies mainly to geographical, and to ideological partitioning of the electorate. For instance at the European parliament each member state has a number of seats that is (roughly) proportional to its population (an instance of geographical representation). The same logic prevails when voters vote for parties (ideological partition of the electorate). If n% of the electorate support a particular political party or set of candidates as their favorite, then roughly n% of seats will be won by that party or those candidates.[2] The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result—not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts (also called super-districts), as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, PR systems that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats.[3]
The most widely used families of PR electoral systems are party-list PR, the single transferable vote (STV), and mixed-member proportional representation (MMP).[4]
With party list PR, political parties define candidate lists and voters vote for a list. The relative vote for each list determines how many candidates from each list are actually elected. Lists can be "closed" or "open"; open lists allow voters to indicate individual candidate preferences and vote for independent candidates. Voting districts can be small (as few as three seats in some districts in Chile) or as large as a province or an entire nation.
The single transferable vote uses multiple-member districts, with voters casting only one vote each but ranking individual candidates in order of preference (by providing back-up preferences). During the count, as candidates are elected or eliminated, surplus or discarded votes that would otherwise be wasted are transferred to other candidates according to the preferences, forming consensus groups that elect surviving candidates. STV enables voters to vote across party lines, to choose the most preferred of a party's candidates and vote for independent candidates, knowing that if the candidate is not elected his/her vote will likely not be wasted if the voter marks back-up preferences on the ballot.
Mixed member proportional representation (MMP), also called the additional member system (AMS), is a two-tier mixed electoral system combining local non-proportional plurality/majoritarian elections and a compensatory regional or national party list PR election. Voters typically have two votes, one for their single-member district and one for the party list, the party list vote determining the balance of the parties in the elected body.[3][5]
According to the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network,[6] some form of proportional representation is used for national lower house elections in 94 countries. Party list PR, being used in 85 countries, is the most widely used. MMP is used in seven lower houses. STV, despite long being advocated by political scientists,[3]:71 is used in only two: Ireland, since independence in 1922,[7] and Malta, since 1921.[8] STV is also used in the Australian Senate, and can be used for nonpartisan elections such as the city council of Cambridge MA.[9]
Due to factors such as electoral thresholds and the use of small constituencies, as well as manipulation tactics such as party splitting and gerrymandering, perfect proportionality is rarely achieved under these systems. Nonetheless, they approximate proportionality much better than other systems.[10] Some jurisdictions use leveling seats to compensate for such factors.