Proportional Representation | Page 4

of surplus votes--The elimination of
unsuccessful candidates--The fairness of the result--Improved
arrangements in the Transvaal elections--Criticisms of the single
transferable vote--Effect of late preferences--Elimination of candidates
at the bottom of the poll--Quota representation the basis of the system.
CHAPTER VIII
LIST SYSTEMS OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.
The Belgian electoral system--The Franchise--Compulsory
voting--Partial renewal of Chamber--The presentation of lists--The act
of voting--The allotment of seats to parties--The selection of the
successful candidates--A Belgian election, Ghent, 1908: the poll--The
counting of the votes--The final process--Public opinion favourable to
the system--The relation of the Belgian to other list systems--The
different methods of apportioning seats to lists--Criticism of the
d'Hondt rule--The formation of Cartels--The different methods of
selecting successful candidates--Panachage--The single vote and _case
de tête_--The limited and cumulative vote--Special characteristics of
Swedish and Finnish systems.
CHAPTER IX
A COMPARISON OF LIST SYSTEMS WITH THE SINGLE
TRANSFERABLE VOTE
The influence of previous conditions--Party the basis of representation
in a list system--The freedom of the elector within the
party--Comparative accuracy--Panachage--Applicability to
non-political elections--Bye-elections--Relative simplicity of scrutiny.
CHAPTER X
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION AND PARTY

GOVERNMENT
Proportional representation and the two-party system--Burke's view of
party and party discipline--Narrow basis fatal to a large
party--Proportional representation and party discipline--"Free
questions" in Japan--The formation of groups--The formation of an
executive--A check on partisan legislation--Unlike the referendum,
proportional representation will strengthen the House of
Commons--Proportional representation facilitates legislation desired by
the nation--Proportional representation in Standing
Committees--Taking off the Whips--New political conditions.
CHAPTER XI
OBJECTIONS TO PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
The question of practicability--The elector's task--The returning
officer's task--Time required for counting the votes--Fads and sectional
interests--The representation of localities--The member and his
constituents--Objections of party agents--Alleged difficulties in the
organization of elections--Alleged increase of cost--The accuracy of
representation--Summary.
CHAPTER XII
THE KEY TO ELECTORAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
Electoral problems awaiting solution--Simplification of the
franchise--Redistribution--Should be automatic--Secures neither one
vote one value nor true representation--The problem simplified by
proportional representation--The case of Ireland--Three-cornered
contests--Partial adoption of proportional representation not
desirable--Proportional representation and democratic principles
--Constitutional reform--Federal Home Rule--Imperial Federation
--Conclusion.
APPENDICES

APPENDIX I
THE JAPANESE ELECTORAL SYSTEM--THE SINGLE
NON-TRANSFERABLE VOTE
Failure of single-member system--Multi-member constituencies: Single
Vote adopted 1900--Equitable results--The new system and party
organization--The position of independents--Public opinion and the
new system.
APPENDIX II
THE SECOND BALLOT: A NOTE ON THE GERMAN GENERAL
ELECTIONS OF 1903 AND 1907
The effect of unequal constituencies on representation--The effect of
second ballots--Second ballots and the swing of the pendulum--The
second ballot and the representation of minorities--Summary.
APPENDIX III
THE SWEDISH SYSTEM OF PROPORTIONAL
REPRESENTATION
The former constitution of the two Chambers--The struggle for
electoral reform--The Swedish law of 1909--The Swedish system of
proportional representation--The allotment of seats to parties--The
selection of the successful candidates--Free voters and double
candidatures--An election at Carlskrona--The poll--The allotment of
seats to parties--The selection of the successful candidates--The
election of suppliants--Comparison with Belgian system--The system
and party organization--The great improvement effected by the
Swedish system.
APPENDIX IV
THE FINLAND SYSTEM OF PROPORTIONAL
REPRESENTATION

The influence of the Belgian system--Schedules and "compacts" in
place of lists--An election in Nyland--Returning officer's task--The
allotment of seats--Successful candidates in the Nyland
election--Equitable results--Elector's freedom of choice.
APPENDIX V
STATISTICS OF THE GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1885-1910
Explanatory notes--The representation of minorities.
APPENDIX VI
PREFERENTIAL VOTING: THE TRANSFER OF SUPERFLUOUS
VOTES
I. The element of chance involved: Its magnitude. II. Method of
eliminating the chance element--Example.
APPENDIX VII
THE SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE: SCHEDULE TO
MUNICIPAL REPRESENTATION BILL, 1910
APPENDIX VIII
THE SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE: SCHEDULE TO
TASMANIAN ELECTORAL ACT, 1907
APPENDIX IX
THE SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE: REGULATIONS FOR THE
ELECTION OF SENATORS UNDER THE SOUTH AFRICA ACT,
1909
APPENDIX X LIST SYSTEM: BILL PRESENTED TO THE
FRENCH CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, 1907
APPENDIX XI

LIST SYSTEM: LAW ADOPTED BY THE CANTON OF BÂLE
TOWN, 1905
INDEX

"The object of our deliberation is to promote the good purposes for
which elections have been instituted, and to prevent their
inconveniences."
--BURKE
CHAPTER I
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AS AN EXPRESSION OF THE
NATIONAL WILL
"The virtue, the spirit, the essence of the House of Commons, consists
in its being the express image of the nation."--BURKE.
"It is necessary," said Burke, "to resort to the theory of government
whenever you propose any alteration in the frame of it, whether that
alteration means the revival of some former antiquated and forsaken
constitution or state, or the introduction of some new improvement in
the commonwealth." The following chapters are a plea for an
improvement in our electoral methods, and although the suggested
improvement and the arguments with which it is supported are not new,
yet it is desirable, in the spirit of Burke's declaration, to preface the plea
with some reference to the main feature of our constitution.
The spread of representative government.
The outstanding characteristic of the British Constitution, its
fundamental principle, is now, if not fully so