Proportional Representation: Meaning, Merits and Demerits

It is a system of allocating seats in the legislatureThe legislative branch of government is responsible for making laws within a country. Legislatures are made up of people called legislators who, in democracies, are elected by the country’s population More to political parties in proportion to popular votes cast in favour of the political parties in an election. Electoral seats are allotted to contending political parties in proportion to the total number of votes the party received.

Seats are shared strictly according to the electoral strength of the Political Parties.

There are two main types of proportional representation:

1. List Proportional Representation:

This type is usually used in multi-member constituencies where voters rank their vote in their order of preference for the parties which have registered a list of candidates. At the end of the election, political parties are allotted seats in proportion to their overall share of the total votes and the winning candidates are taken from their ranking on the list.

There are two types of list Proportional representation: