RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 New indexes for measuring electoral disproportionality
A1 Arredondo, Verónica
A1 Martínez Panero, Miguel
A1 Palomares, Antonio
A1 Peña García, María Teresa
A1 Ramírez, Victoriano
K1 Elecciones
K1 Proportional representation
K1 Disproportionality indexes
K1 Loosemore-Hanby index
K1 Jefferson method
K1 Webster method
K1 5905.01 Elecciones
K1 12 Matemáticas
AB The number of representatives obtained by each political party in an electoral process must be a whole number. So, the percentage of votes for each party usually differs from the corresponding percentage of seats, forcing a certain unavoidable disproportionality. On the other hand, different elements of the electoral system (constituencies, thresholds, etc.) may produce some avoidable disproportionality. Those indexes traditionally used to analyse disproportionality take into account an unreachable exact proportionality as a reference. Instead, our more realistic approach quantifies distortions from a specific allotment, namely the seat distribution obtained when applying a proportional method to the total votes (that is, as if it were a unique constituency, without electoral thresholds or incentives to the winning party). Hence, we measure the avoidable disproportionality associated with such method. Unlike traditional indexes, we propose indexes associated with proportional allotment methods that can be zero in real situations. They are simple to calculate and allow us to decipher the number of seats assigned beyond the inevitable disproportionality which arises from the constraint of whole numbers. We are particularly interested in the indexes associated with Jefferson and Webster methods, which are compared to Gallagher, Loosemore-Hanby and SainteLaguë indexes for the results of 55 elections held in several countries.
PB UMA Editorial y ASEPUMA
SN 1575-605X
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/74218
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/74218
LA eng
NO Revista electrónica de comunicaciones y trabajos de ASEPUMA, 2020, vol 21, n. 2. p. 161-168
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 22-feb-2025