Journal of Electoral Studies

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Home Issues Backissues Volume 31, No.1 Plurality vs. Majority: A Comparative Study of Direct Presidential Elections

Plurality vs. Majority: A Comparative Study of Direct Presidential Elections

Yeh-Lih Wang
1996 / 05
Volume 3, No.1

pp.49-67
Paper

Abstract

Although Taiwan's direct presidential election was held first time in the history in 1996 under plurality system, the controversy over the adoption of plurality or runoff election has never concluded. During the debates, much attention has been drawn to the linkage between the elec-toral systems and the president's constitutional power. From another point of view, this study attempts to show that different electoral systems could also have different influences on party system as well as voting behavior. This study can be divided into three parts: first of all, it employs Social Choice Theory to examine the theoretical differences between these two electoral systems; secondly, it utilize empirical data to analyze the electoral results of these two systems, and finally, it shows these two electoral systems could lead to quite different consequences on party system and voting behavior.

Keywords

Relative plurality

Absolute majority

Runoff election

Social choice theory

Condorcet criterion

Duverger's law

Median voter theorem