Question

Political scientists use the diversity index to decide if an election was democratic. If the diversity index is close to one (this is a low diversity index), than some say that an election was not very democratic. Using the diversity index as a guide (with higher indices implying more democratic), which of the following two countries probably had a more democratic election?

Country 1: Three parties: A = 60%, B=30%, C = 10%
Country 2: Four parties: A = 70%, B=10%, C = 10%, D = 10%

Answer 1

Country 1 likely had a more democratic election than Country 2 because its vote distribution among parties indicates less dominance by a single party, aligning with a higher diversity index.

Step-by-step explanation:

Political scientists often use the diversity index to gauge the democratic nature of elections, equating higher diversity with more democratic processes. The scenario presented compares the diversity of political parties in elections from two countries.

Country 1 has three parties with the following vote shares: Party A with 60%, Party B with 30%, and Party C with 10%. Country 2 has four parties with these shares: Party A with 70%, Parties B, C, and D each with 10%. Given that a higher number of competitive parties typically indicates a more democratic election, Country 1 would seem to have a more democratic election compared to Country 2 despite having one less party, because the vote is less dominated by a single party, allowing for more significant competition among parties and thus aligning with a higher diversity index.

This scenario illustrates concepts analogous to Duverger's law, which posits that plurality voting systems with single-member districts tend to favor a two-party system, limiting the diversity of competitive parties.