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British Politics For Dummies, 2nd Edition
book

British Politics For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Julian Knight, Michael Pattison
May 2015
Beginner content levelBeginner
424 pages
11h 27m
English
For Dummies
Content preview from British Politics For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6

Counting the Votes: Differing Electoral Systems

In This Chapter

arrow Explaining first past the post

arrow Winning a majority of votes

arrow Looking at proportional representation

Elections are a big deal in the UK (and in all democratic countries around the globe for that matter). From deciding which party is to form the national government to who’s going to be in charge of the local council, elections embody the democratic process in all its Technicolor glory.

Although election campaigns can go on for weeks and even months, the vote itself is squeezed into one day when electors are invited to attend a polling station and cast their votes. Election day is the people’s chance to make a difference by saying who they want to represent them, as well as their opportunity to kick politicians out of office who they feel aren’t doing a good job. For election day, read judgement day.

Get your calculator out now, because in this chapter I peer into the polling booths and explain exactly how people elect their politicians.

Listing the Big UK Elections

When you think about British elections your mind probably turns to a general election, with the high-profile national politicians going head to head ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781118971505Purchase book