The Relationship Between Votes and Seats

Borooah, Vani (2014): The Relationship Between Votes and Seats. Published in: Votes, Parties, and Seats No. Palgrave Macmillan, London (July 2015): pp. 115-127.

Abstract

Borooah develops the concept of the amplification coefficient which, when applied to the votes received and seats won by a party, assesses its ability to convert votes into seats. In this respect, his major finding was that the BJP, in electoral terms, was much more efficient than the INC. The central result is that, averaging over the eight Lok Sabha elections between 1989 and 2014, in order to win 200 seats in the Lok Sabha the INC would have had to receive 35 votes for every 100 votes received by the collective of non-INC parties (that is, 26 percent of the total vote) but the BJP would have had to receive only 27 votes for every 100 votes received by the collective of non-BJP parties (that is, 21 percent of the total vote). This places the INC at a considerable disadvantage vis-à-vis the BJP in terms of contesting elections.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Votes, Seats, First-Past-the-Post Electoral System, Electoral Efficiency
• Subjects: P - Economic Systems > P1 - Capitalist Systems > P16 - Political Economy

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