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Politics & Government vocabulary · Elections and Voting

Proportional representation

Meaning in politics & government, with examples

nounCommon term

In politics & government, proportional representation means: An electoral system in which parties win seats in proportion to the share of the vote they receive, so that 20% of the votes gives roughly 20% of the seats.

In Turkish: nispi temsil, orantılı temsil

How it is used

Often shortened to PR. It is usually contrasted with first-past-the-post, where the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins. PR tends to bring more parties into parliament and more coalition governments; many PR systems use party lists and an electoral threshold.

Example sentences

  1. Under proportional representation, smaller parties have a better chance of winning seats.

  2. The commission recommended a move from first-past-the-post to proportional representation.

Common collocations

  • system of proportional representation
  • party-list proportional representation
  • first-past-the-post
  • electoral reform
  • electoral thresholdThe minimum share of the vote, usually a percentage, that a party must win before it can receive any seats in parliament.
  • coalitionAn arrangement in which two or more political parties agree to work together, especially to form a government when no single party has a majority.
  • constituencyAn area of a country that elects one or more representatives to parliament; also the voters who live there, or a group that supports a politician.
  • electionAn organized process in which people vote to choose a person or group for an official position, such as members of parliament, a president or a mayor.

More terms: Elections and Voting

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