ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

AP U.S. Government 1.4 Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media 246 Views


Share It!


Description:

AP U.S. Government 1.4 Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media. Why do single-member districts favor major parties?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:00

Thank you We sneak And here's your shmoop choose your

00:06

brought to you by single member districts precincts for the

00:09

lovelorn and brokenhearted Well right single member districts favour major

00:14

parties because what i don't hear the eventual answers getting

00:19

likely candidate running campaign Really all right Well single member

00:26

districts which include all districts in the u s on

00:29

ly elect a single representative sounds easy enough right Well

00:32

now let's see how that one track electoral mind plays

00:35

a role in our two party system Do single member

00:39

district favour major parties Because be candidates are required to

00:42

win more than fifty percent of the vote to take

00:44

office Well actually candidates for the house of representatives win

00:48

the race if they received the plurality of the vote

00:51

A fancy way of saying whoever gets the most votes

00:53

wins that's a little less demanding than a simple fifty

00:56

percent majority so the odds aren't in v's favor not

00:59

b do single member districts favour major parties Because see

01:03

running campaigns is mohr expensive In single member districts campaigns

01:08

are pretty expensive regardless of how many members are elected

01:12

So it looks like money isn't the issue here for

01:14

once do single member districts favour major parties because d

01:18

single member districts are usually located in major population centers

01:23

are left who said earlier Every single u s congressional

01:26

district is a single member district so they're located in

01:29

population centers big and small so it's not a date

01:33

our major parties favor because eat single member districts allow

01:36

instant runoff voting will instant runoff voting which enables voters

01:41

to rain candidates in order of preference rather than on

01:44

ly picking just one actually favors small parties since a

01:48

second tier group receiving second choice fix can sometimes find

01:51

its way up to the top Though it's not used

01:53

in the u s national elections instant runoff voting is

01:56

used by some american cities as well as for the

01:59

best picture oscar grace All right that means single member

02:02

districts favour major parties because a a major party candidate

02:06

is mohr likely toe win a plurality of the vote

02:10

because single member districts only elect one representative Major parties

02:14

with their deep financial pockets and broad voter support and

02:17

a brand name have a greater chance of capturing the

02:19

plurality of the vote If district were able to send

02:22

say the top three Vote getters to the legislature Then

02:26

smaller parties would have a better chance of getting seats

02:28

A good idea for political diversity Sure but we'll just 00:02:31.68 --> [endTime] have tio table this one for now

Up Next

AP U.S. Government 1.1 Institutions of National Government
280 Views

AP U.S. Government 1.1 Institutions of National Government. What was the scale of representation in the House of Representatives when the Constitut...

Related Videos

AP U.S. Government 2.2 Public Policy
39 Views

AP U.S. Government 2.2 Public Policy. What did the Budget Impoundment Control Act do?

AP U.S. Government 2.3 Civil Rights and Liberties
14 Views

AP U.S. Government 2.3 Civil Rights and Liberties. Classifications based on sexual orientation receive...what?

AP U.S. Government 1.3 Political Beliefs and Behaviors
5 Views

AP U.S. Government 1.3 Political Beliefs and Behaviors. What sort of poll would you commission to monitor popularity over three months?

AP U.S. Government 1.1 Constitutional Foundations
562 Views

See how much you know about British political factions. That's what the cool kids read about nowadays, right? Well...we think it's cool.