3. Constituencies and First Past the Post

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the relationship between political boundaries and the first past the post (FPTP) system, focusing in particular on how it creates ‘safe’ and ‘marginal’ seats, the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum, and some of the key advantages of FPTP.

Course

In this course, Professor David Denver (University of Lancaster) examines the electoral systems in operation across the United Kingdom. We begin by thinking about the basic functions that an electoral system performs before briefly introducing the main electoral systems used in the UK. We then consider first past the post (FPTP), focusing in particular on the importance of constituencies and the advantages and disadvantages of the system. Finally, we explore the proportional electoral systems used in the UK, such as the alternative member system (AMS), single transferable vote (STV), and supplementary vote (SV).

Lecturer

Professor David Denver is Emeritus Professor at the University of Lancaster. He specialises in studying elections and also has a research interest in Scottish politics. He is the author of a widely used text on electoral behaviour (Elections and Voters in Britain) and of numerous other pieces on the subject. Among other positions held, he is the Chair of the editorial board of the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties and Chair of the publications subcommittee of the Political Studies Association.