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Macau Periodical Index (澳門期刊論文索引)
- Author
- Eichenberger, Reiner；Schafer, Patricia
- Title
- Wellbeing for all: the role of the electoral system
- Journal Name
- The Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute
- Pub. Info
- Sept. 2021, No. 8, pp. 139-145
- Link
- http://mrijournal.riccimac.org/articles/issue_08/MRI_Journal_Issue_Eight.pdf
- Abstract
- Wellbeing for all is the result of effective politics. However, in most countries, the political environment is dominated by ethnic, religious, and economic cleavages, which drive politicians to cater to a fraction of the population rather than to society as a whole. Therefore, it is necessary to implement political institutions which encourage politicians to achieve wellbeing for all. But which institutions work? We suggest that much can be learned from Switzerland. While it has a highly diverse society, it is politically stable and economically wealthy. Traditionally, its success has been explained by federalism and direct democracy. We highlight the role of a third formal institution, the electoral system. Proportional and majority elections coexist at all levels of the Swiss state. In addition, the electoral system has specific features: majority elections usually take place in multi-seat districts, and they are often at-large elections, meaning that there is only one large district covering the whole jurisdiction. Paragraph Headings: 1. The power of multi-seat majority elections 2. The beneficial role of choosey voters 3. How effective politics evolves 4. What follows for fractionalised societies?