Political Systems, Female Representation, and Voter Turnout

Unless otherwise noted, three sources were used to compile the following graphs: CIA World Factbook, Worldpolicy.org and Nationmaster.com. In the top graph you can see the different political systems of the world organized between those nations that elect their officials collectively in districts (orange) and those nations that elect their officials based on the individual choices in proportional elections (green). The group of proportionally elected officials is divided into two, each with a different shade of green: one shows nations with proportional elections and a prime-minister resulting from those general elections, and one shows nations that — next to proportional elections — also elect a president collectively as if the nation is one big district where winner-takes-all. Note that the former version is mainly found in Europe. Ceremonial presidents and kings and queens preside as the top figure, but either have no political power or were appointed by the elected officials, not by the people directly. The mixed version (blue) applies to those nations where (part of) their representatives are elected in districts with multiple seats available. Finally, the non-democratic nations are left blank, though various nations received the benefit of the doubt (such as Pakistan and Syria).

In this second map, the nations shown in dark green have the highest percentage of female representatives in the world. Some nations have set minimum levels for female representatives, some nations saw a diminishment of their male population due to war (Rwanda); both are reasons for a higher level of female representatives than what the system normally would deliver. However, a strong resemblance is found in general between the political system in place and the level of female representatives. Nations electing representatives from a preselected group are shown in white in this graph, such as Cuba and China, which have high percentages of females elected as representatives, but that as nations do not give the public a free choice to elect their own representatives. A map with more distinctions but without the presidential distinctions: WPmap

In the next graph, the nations are set apart in their own versions of government and plotted against female distribution. Not only does the proportional version without a president have the highest level of female representatives (Sweden), this category also has the highest nation that is lowest in its rank (Hungary). The opposite is true for district elections with the highest number being the lowest of all high numbers (Rwanda), while it shares the bottom level of zero female representatives (Kuwait) together with various nation at the non-democratic version.

The following graph shows how much of the national distribution of income ór distribution of consumption the top 10% in a nation can call their own. Please note that the distribution of consumption usually shows a lower level of inequality than the distribution of income. Various aspects on this map may therefore be further skewed than they already appear. Of great interest is the difference found between the nations with proportional elections — one with and one without a president: they show almost opposite results. Nations with proportional elections without a president all remain below the level as found in the United States, while nations with proportional elections that also elect a president remain close to all above that level.

In the graph below, various well-known democracies are placed according to voter turnout over a 54 year time-span. It gives an indication which system delivers a higher enticement to participate. Of these nations, the United States has the highest number on average of elections, and voter fatigue may explain part of its low position. Nevertheless, Italy — with more national elections than any other nation — shows no voter fatigue, and is placed in top position with 92.5% voter turnout on average. A few nations require all its citizens to vote, such as Australia and Belgium, and may therefore end up higher on this list. The colors for each nation are the same as used for the top map.

Finally, one last look at the 'engines' of the two versions of democracy, district elected and proportionally elected. On the left, in district elections 40% of the eligible voters (example displays results for the averaged US Senate election) does not go to the voting booth, while 40% of the voters did not receive a representative (40% of 60% = 24% of the eligible voters). The majority in this example of the 2006 U.S. Senate is based on 50% plus one of the elected representatives; this equals therefore only about 18% of the eligible voters. In proportional elections on the right, more people turn out to vote, and half of the representatives plus one equal about 40% of the eligible voters. What constitutes a majority in one system differs significantly from what constitutes a majority in the other system. Proportional elections entice more people to vote and better ensures that representatives are more representative of the population. Read more about democratic engines.