Proportional Voting Around the World
Around the world, a variety of voting systems are used - from
single member districts to choice voting to party list
systems (and everything in between) - the nations within our global
community display a staggering
array of voting systems. In spite of this, one thing is clear -- the
modern trend is toward using proportional voting systems, as most
industrialized nations and all of the newly
emerging democracies in the former Eastern Bloc have done, as well as
in Iraq
and Afghanistan. Most of the lingering
winner-take-all, first-past-the-post systems exist in former British
colonies, including in the United States. Ironically, even as we
maintain our own unrepresentative electoral system in America, the
United Kingdom is beginning vigorous discussions to move away from the
very winner-take-all system it brought to our shores many years ago. In
light of these global developments, FairVote monitors news coverage of
international electoral systems changes.- For information on international electoral systems, please download IDEA's manual. [.pdf - 3.2 MB]
- For examples of international ballot designs, please visit Andrew Reynold's site. [More]
- For information on redistricting procedures around the world, please visit EPIC's site. [More]
- Read our analysis of international elections using proportional voting in 2005. [More]