Proportional representation

Also called: PR · Topic: Elections and the Electoral System · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 7 "Elections"; Class 11, Ch 3 "Election and Representation"

Meaning

Proportional representation (PR) is an electoral system in which each party gets a share of seats equal to its share of votes. It also gives minority groups seats in line with their support among voters [5]. PR usually uses large constituencies that each elect more than one member.

PR matters because it is the main alternative to India's first-past-the-post (FPTP) system. Every debate on reforming India's electoral system asks one question: should India move from FPTP towards PR?

Explanation

How PR works

• Basic rule: seats are shared out in line with votes.
• A party with about a quarter of the votes should get about a quarter of the seats.

• Under FPTP, votes for losing candidates elect nobody. These are called "wasted" votes. PR wastes far fewer votes.

• Constituencies are large.

• Sometimes the whole country is one constituency, as in Israel and the Netherlands.
• Other countries use large multi-member districts, as in Argentina and Portugal.

• Each constituency elects more than one member. India's Lok Sabha is different: it has 543 single-member constituencies.

• Worked example: Israel's Knesset (2015 election)

• The Knesset has 120 seats, and the whole country votes as one constituency.
• Likud won 23.4% of votes and 30 seats, which is 25% of the seats.
• Its seat share closely matched its vote share. That match is the aim of PR.

Two main types

• 1. List system (party-list PR)
• Before the election, each party publishes a ranked list of candidates.
• Voters choose a party, not a person.

• If a party wins 30 seats, the first 30 names on its list become members.

• 2. Single transferable vote (STV)

• Voters rank candidates in order of preference (1, 2, 3 …). The districts elect more than one member each [5].

• STV is used in Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of Australia [5].

• Mixed-member proportional (MMP), a mixed system

• Some members are elected by FPTP and the rest by PR [6].
• Germany (Bundestag): each voter has two votes [6].
  • The first vote (Erststimme) goes to a local candidate. This keeps a local link between voters and their member.
  • The second vote (Zweitstimme) goes to a party list. It decides the overall party balance in the Bundestag.
• New Zealand moved from FPTP to MMP in 1996. Each voter has one vote for a district candidate and one for a party [7].

Conditions and limits

• Electoral threshold (the smallest vote share a party needs to win any seat at all)
• Israel 3.25%, Sweden 4%, Germany 5%, Turkey 10% [6].
• In Germany, a party gets list seats only if it wins at least 5% of the national vote or at least 3 constituencies [6].

• Why thresholds exist: they stop parliament from splitting into many tiny parties. Germany chose 5% because many small parties had helped weaken democracy in the Weimar Republic [6].

• Weaknesses of PR

• No single local representative: under list PR, there is no one MP for an area. NCERT asks, "How do I know who is my MP?"
• Coalitions: it is rare for one party to win a majority alone. A coalition (an alliance of parties that forms a government when no single party has a majority) becomes more likely, and it can be less stable.
• Party bosses control the lists: a candidate's chance depends on their rank on the list, not on local voters.
• Community-wise parties: PR may lead each community to form its own party.

In the Constitution and practice

• Direct elections in India do not use PR. India uses FPTP for the Lok Sabha and the state Legislative Assemblies, and has done so in every general election since 1951-52.
• Indirect elections in India do use PR, in its STV form. In an indirect election, elected representatives vote instead of the people. The Constitution itself sets out this method:
• President: chosen "in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote" (Article 55(3)).
• Vice-President: chosen the same way (Article 66(1)).
• Rajya Sabha: state representatives are elected by the elected members of each state Legislative Assembly using PR-STV (Article 80(4)).

• State Legislative Councils: the elected members are chosen by PR-STV (Article 171(4)).

• Why India chose FPTP instead of PR for direct elections (NCERT Class 11)

• It is simple: India had a vast electorate in 1951-52, and many voters could not read. They only had to recognise one candidate or symbol.
• It gives local accountability: every area has one MP who answers to its voters.
• It gives stable government: the largest party gets "bonus" seats. A parliamentary system needs this, because the government survives only while it keeps the confidence of the Lok Sabha.

• It pushes groups to combine: to top the poll, a candidate must win votes from several castes and communities.

• How FPTP turned out in practice: the vote–seat gaps that PR would close

• 1984: Congress won 48.0% of votes and 415 seats (over 80%).
• 1984: CPI(M) and Lok Dal both won 5.7% of votes, but got 22 and 3 seats. Under PR, they would have got about the same number of seats.
• 2019: BJP won 37.4% of votes and 303 seats.
• 2024: BJP won 36.6% of votes and 240 seats, short of the majority mark of 272 [4].

• Tamil Nadu 2016: AIADMK won 40.77% of votes and 135 of 232 seats.

• Reform proposals

• The Law Commission's 170th Report, "Reform of the Electoral Laws" (May 1999), examined in depth whether India should bring in a list system, and made recommendations on it [2].
  • It suggested a partial list system: extra Lok Sabha seats filled from party lists, alongside the FPTP seats.
• In a later report on electoral reforms, the Law Commission asked the Government to examine whether the 170th Report's proposals on the proportional system can be made workable in India at present [3].

Don't confuse with

• First-past-the-post (FPTP): the candidate with the most votes wins, even with less than 50%. There is one member per constituency, and you vote for a candidate. PR has many members per constituency, you usually vote for a party, and seats follow vote share.
• Majority (two-round) system: the winner needs more than 50% (50% + 1). If nobody gets that, there is a run-off between the top candidates, as in France's presidential election. It still elects one person per seat, so it is not proportional.
• List PR vs STV: in list PR, you vote for a party (Israel, Netherlands). In STV, you rank individual candidates (Ireland, Malta) [5]. India's indirect elections use STV, not list PR.
• Mixed-member proportional (MMP): this is a mix of FPTP and PR, not pure PR. Germany's two votes and New Zealand since 1996 are examples [6][7].

Prelims Hooks

• In India, PR by single transferable vote is used for the President (Article 55), the Vice-President (Article 66), the Rajya Sabha (Article 80(4)) and Legislative Councils (Article 171(4)). The Lok Sabha and Assemblies use FPTP.
• Israel: the whole country is one constituency, the Knesset has 120 seats, and the threshold is 3.25%. In 2015, Likud won 23.4% of votes and 30 seats.
• Thresholds: Germany 5% (or 3 constituency wins), Sweden 4%, Turkey 10% [6].
• STV (ranked votes) is used in Ireland and Malta [5]. List PR (party vote) is used in Israel and the Netherlands. Exams often test whether you mix these two up.
• New Zealand switched from FPTP to MMP in 1996 [7]. Germany: Erststimme is for the candidate, Zweitstimme is for the party list [6].
• Law Commission 170th Report (May 1999) examined a list system for India [2].

Mains Points

• Fairness vs stability. FPTP creates large vote–seat gaps: 48% of votes gave 415 seats in 1984, and 37.4% gave 303 seats in 2019. PR would close these gaps.
• The cost of PR: coalition governments, weaker local accountability, and party bosses who control the lists.

• A good answer weighs representativeness (how fairly parliament reflects the votes) against governability (how easily a stable government can be formed).

• Representation of groups spread across many areas. Such groups are rarely the largest group in any one constituency, so they seldom win under FPTP.

• Muslims are about 14.2% of India's population, but only 24 Muslim MPs were elected in 2024.
• Women made up only 14% of MPs (74) in 2024 [4].
• Under PR, parties could place such candidates high on their lists.

• Counter-argument: PR may encourage parties built around single communities.

• Middle path: a partial list or MMP system. The Law Commission's 170th Report (1999) [2] and the German and New Zealand models [6][7] keep a local MP and also fix overall proportionality.

• A threshold of about 5% would stop parliament from splitting into many small parties.
• The Law Commission later asked the Government to check whether this is workable in India at present [3].

Related concepts

• Constituency
• First-past-the-post system
• Majority system
• List system
• Electoral threshold

Read more

• Electoral systems: FPTP, majority and proportional representation