2. 考研
  3. In general, democracies organize and carry out their elections in one of two ways. In first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections, vote

In general, democracies organize and carry out their elections in one of two ways. In first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections, vote

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问题    In general, democracies organize and carry out their elections in one of two ways. In first-past-the-post (FPTP) elections, voters choose individual candidates for office, and the candidate with the most votes wins. Elections in this kind of system are also called " winner-take-all. " In a democracy with proportional representation (PR) , parties, not individuals, win seats in a legislature according to the percent of votes they receive in an election. Parties then form coalitions with each other to gain control of the government. Which system a country uses can greatly affect its politics; each has its merits and disadvantages.
   These two types of election tend to foster very different styles of political debate. First-past-the-post elections tend to lead to more moderate political discussions at the national level. In elections for the presidency of the United States, for example, candidates need support from every part of the country. They cannot alienate large groups by expressing extreme views, so they must be moderate in order to have broad appeal. This moderation has its downsides, however. For one, uncommon opinions tend to be left out of public discussion. This can result in an elected government that may not fully represent citizens’ views. Extreme parties are also reduce to the role of spoilers in national elections: unable to win, but able to hurt larger parties with similar, but more moderate, viewpoints. During the US election for president in 1992, a far-right candidate, Ross Perot, drew votes from the sitting president, the center-right George H. W. Bush. This may have allowed the center-left candidate, Bill Clinton, to win the presidency.
   Proportional representation, for better or worse, allows more extreme viewpoints to be represented at the national level. This can be a good thing, allowing minority groups and small, single-issue parties to have a voice in government. However, these small parties can cause problems when they join ruling coalitions. They can force the government to focus on niche agendas by threatening to leave the coalition if ignored. In some cases , radical parties that actively oppose or threaten democracy, like fascist parties, can gain seats in PR elections. This occurred most famously in Germany’s Weimar Republic in the 1930s, when democratic elections gave the Nazi Party the opportunity to take power.
   Each electoral system also results in different levels of voter participation. First-past-the-post systems generally result in lower overall voter participation. This could be because the rules of FPTP elections discourage voters who support candidates or parties who are not likely to win. Because votes for a losing candidate count for nothing in an FPTP election, votes for opposition parties are effectively wasted. In elections for US Senate seats and the US presidency, for instance, many states are consistently won by candidates from one party. Opposition voters in these states have little reason to show up at the polls. However, some political scientists argue that because voters vote for specific candidates in FPTP elections, those elected officials are more personally accountable to the citizens that voted for them. This sense of accountability could lead to more citizen engagement between elections.
   Proportional representation, on the whole, encourages higher levels of participation. Because voters will be represented even if they are in the minority, there are far fewer wasted votes in PR elections. Perhaps for this reason, voter turnout is much higher, on average, in countries that use a PR system. On the other hand, voters in PR elections generally vote for parties rather than individuals. Because the parties appoint legislators to their seats, politicians may feel more accountable to their parties than to voters. This can lead officials to focus on within-party politics rather than the wishes of the people.
Why do first-past-the-post elections tend to have lower voter turnout than proportional representation elections?
选项
答案Because there are more wasted votes in an FPTP election than in proportional represented．
解析 事实细节题。第四段提到，在得票最多者当选的制度下，投给无法获胜的候选人或政党的票是废票。第五段则讲到，在比例代表制下很少有废票。由此可知，“得票最多者当选”规则下，投票率低是由于废票比较多造成的。
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