[EM] Clarification of term : District Magnitude

[James Gilmour]

> James (sorry, I'm not sure which one) wrote:
[OK, but the actual Sender should appear in the "From..." box in your message list.]

I (James GILMOUR) has written:
> Even if it were possible to "do the whole Knesset in one 
> district", I would most strongly advise
> > against it.  The underlying problems with politics in Israel are 
> exacerbated by the large number of
> > very small parties that gain seats in the Knesset.  A district 
> magnitude of 120 (all the members)
> > would make this even worse than at present, when it is constrained 
> (to a small extent) by the 1.5%
> > threshold.  Districts based on some "natural" communities 
> within the 
> national boundary would deal
> > with that without the need for an artificial threshold.  There is 
> more to electing an effective
> > parliament than simply securing party PR.

Doreen asked:
> Please define "district magnitude" and "district" as used in 
> the passage above.  Sorry for the elementary questions.

No problem  -  some of the jargon is confusing!  Some of it is incomprehensible!!

"District Magnitude" refers to the number of elected members elected from one "constituency" or
"district".  "District" is the term most commonly found in the academic literature because it is the
term used in the USA.  In the UK we use "constituencies" for parliaments and assemblies and "wards"
for local government councils.  The term district magnitude is used mostly in relation to PR
(proportional representation) voting systems.

Israel presently uses a closed list Party List PR system to elect the Knesset.   The current
District Magnitude is 120 because all 120 members are elected in one national "district" or
"constituency".  If you divided the country into four districts for electoral purposes, each
district returning an equal number of members, you would then have a district magnitude of 30.

For STV-PR it is usual (but NOT essential) to have smaller districts, based around natural
communities.  Thus the members of Dáil Éireann (TDs) are elected from districts returning 3, 4 or 5
members.  When we used STV-PR to elect the 38 Scottish Education Authorities in the 1920s, the
district magnitudes ranged from 3 to 10, with several different magnitudes within the same
Authority.

District magnitude automatically places a limit on the degree of PR that can be obtained.  In return
you get a degree of "localness" associated with the elected members.  Most (but not all)
commentators, politicians and electors accept that there should be a trade-off between
proportionality and the local link.  Opinions differ about where the balance should be struck.  That
trade-off is, however, about more than just PR and local representation  -  it affects the whole
operation of the elected parliament or assembly.  Viewed from this distance, the Knesset has far too
many small parties, especially at the extremes of political views.

James GILMOUR