Rational Choice Meets the New Politics: Choosing the Scottish Parliament’s Electoral System

Abstract

Although there has been extensive research on electoral system choice at the national level, we know relatively little about the dynamics of deciding the rules of the game for sub-state institutions. This article examines the factors that influenced the choice of a proportional electoral system for the new Scottish Parliament in 1999. Through the use of archival sources and interviews with key participants, we challenge the conventional rational choice explanation for the adoption of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) system. Although rational considerations on the part of the Labour Party were involved in the choice of MMP, our findings suggest that, as at the national level, theories of electoral system choice need to consider normative values as well. Keywords: electoral systems, rational choice, Scottish Parliament, MMP, devolutionThe choice of electoral system is one of the most important decisions faced by the actors involved in the creation of new political institutions. In the words of Giovanni Sartori (1968: 273), the electoral system is 'the most specific manipulative instrument of politics'. Some scholars suggest that such choices on electoral systems may be influenced by rational choice considerations, where parties seek to maximize seat gains or minimize potential losses (Benoit 2004), or wider interactions with civil society and the general public (Renwick 2010). However, while there has been extensive research on electoral system change at the national level (Rahat 2011), less attention has been paid to choices in sub-state regions. As Monique Leyenaar and Reuven Hazan (2011: 441) The article begins by reviewing the literature on electoral system choice. We use this to construct an analytical framework based on two broad perspectives: rational choice and an ideological commitment to 'new politics'. We then examine the evidence about the process of choosing the Scottish Parliament's electoral system in light of these perspectives. Finally, we consider the implications of this case study for the wider study of electoral system choice. 4Theoretical approaches to electoral system change Much of the scholarly literature on institutional change (or the lack thereof) assumes that rational political actors try to maximize their utility -often votes or seats.According to the rational choice perspective, parties with a lot of electoral support prefer majoritarian electoral systems and small constituencies, while parties with less support prefer PR, ideally in large constituencies -as Josep Colomer (2005: 2) 6Another constraint on rational action is whether the system change that is proposed by elites is actually perceived as legitimate by the wider public. Matthew Shugart (2008: 10) argues that 'it is precisely at the intersection of normative critiques of the existing rules and rational interest of political actors that reform is most likely to occur', with political actors seeing electoral reform as a selling point. While much of the current research into electoral system choice focuses on recent ...

Como se fomenta ou se barra reformas eleitorais? Uma revisão de escopo

“…Nesse sentido, de acordo com Norris (2011), as aspirações democráticas da população são um dos fatores que podem catapultar uma reforma eleitoral por encorajar as forças democráticas a atuarem para o fortalecimento das instituições, entre as quais, as eleitorais. Sua importância não depende necessariamente do envolvimento de uma grande parcela da população, como ocorreu, por exemplo, com a atuação do movimento feminista na reforma eleitoral escocesa de 1999, onde o legislativo foi pressionado a adotar medidas afirmativas em seu novo sistema eleitoral visando uma melhor igualdade de gênero (Convery & Lundberg, 2017).…”