List of electoral systems by country
Appearance
Part of the Politics and Economics series |
Electoral systems |
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This is a list of electoral systems by country in alphabetical order. An electoral system is used to elect national legislatures and heads of state.
Maps
[edit]Head of state
Lower (or unicameral) house
Upper house
Single-winner system / single-member constituencies (non-proportional) First past the post/single member plurality (FPTP/SMP)
Two-round system (TRS)
Instant-runoff voting (IRV)
Multi-member constituencies, majoritarian (non-proportional) Block voting (BV) or mixed FPTP and BV
Party block voting (PBV) or mixed FPTP and PBV
Multi-member constituencies, semi-proportional Single non-transferable vote (SNTV) or mixed FPTP and SNTV
Modified Borda count
Multi-member constituencies, proportional Party-list proportional representation (closed list PR)
Party-list proportional representation (open list PR)
Party-list proportional representation (partially-open list PR)
Panachage (open list PR)
Single transferable vote (STV)
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Mixed non-compensatory (semi-proportional) Majority bonus (non-compensatory) (majority largest party gets extra seats)
Mixed-member majoritarian (MMM): parallel voting (FPTP and list PR)
Mixed-member majoritarian (MMM): parallel voting (TRS and list PR)
Mixed-member majoritarian (MMM): parallel voting (BV/PBV and list PR)
Parallel voting (SNTV and list PR)
Mixed compensatory (proportional or semi-proportional) Mixed-member majoritarian (MMM) with compensation / scorporo
Additional member system / semi-proportional MMP
Personalised proportional representation (PPR/German MMP)
Majority jackpot (compensatory) (majority of seats reserved for largest party/coalition)
Two-round majority jackpot (compensatory) (majority of seats reserved for largest party/coalition, but only in an optional second round)
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Indirect election Election by legislature
Election by electoral college or local legislatures
Partly elected by electoral college or local legislatures, partly appointed by head of state
Other No election (e.g. Monarchy)
Appointed by head of state
Varies by federal states or constituencies
No information/Unicameral legislature
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Electoral systems by country
[edit]Democracies and hybrid regimes
[edit]Authoritarian regimes
[edit]According to the Economist Democracy Index 2023 on electoral process and pluralism. These countries have no elections or sham elections.
Country | Body or office | Type of body or office | Electoral system | Notes |
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Afghanistan | Currently no elections are held | |||
Azerbaijan | President | Head of State | First-past-the-post | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature | First-past-the-post | ||
Bahrain | King | Head of State | Hereditary monarchy | |
Consultative Council | Upper chamber of legislature | Appointed by the King | ||
Council of Representatives | Lower chamber of legislature | Two-round system | ||
Belarus | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
Council of Republic | Upper chamber of legislature | Elected by regional councils | ||
House of Representatives | Lower chamber of legislature | First-past-the-post | ||
Brunei | Currently no elections are held | |||
Burkina Faso | Currently no elections are held | |||
Burundi | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature |
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National Assembly | Lower chamber of legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Cambodia | King | Head of State | Elective monarchy | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature |
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National Assembly | Lower chamber of legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Cameroon | President | Head of State and Government | First-past-the-post | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature |
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National Assembly | Lower chamber of legislature |
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Central African Republic | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
National Assembly | Lower chamber of legislature | Two-round system | ||
Chad | Currently no elections are held | |||
China | Currently no elections are held | |||
Comoros | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
Assembly of the Union | Unicameral legislature | Two-round system | ||
Democratic Republic of the Congo | President | Head of State | First-past-the-post | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature |
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National Assembly | Lower chamber of legislature | |||
Republic of the Congo | President | Head of State | Two-round system | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature | Elected by regional councils | ||
National Assembly | Lower chamber of legislature | Two-round system | ||
Cuba | President | Head of state | Elected by the National Assembly | |
National Assembly of People's Power | Unicameral legislature | Two-round system | ||
Djibouti | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature | Mixed-member majoritarian:
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East Timor | President | Head of State | Two-round system | |
Parliament | Unicameral legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Ecuador | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
National Congress | Unicameral legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Egypt | President | Head of State | Two-round system | |
House of Representatives | Unicameral legislature | Parallel voting:
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Equatorial Guinea | President | Head of State and Government | First-past-the-post | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature |
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Chamber of People's Representatives | Lower chamber of legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Eritrea | Currently no elections are held | |||
Eswatini | Ngwenyama | Head of State | Hereditary monarchy | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature |
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House of Assembly | Lower chamber of legislature | First-past-the-post | ||
Ethiopia | President | Head of State | Elected by the Federal Parliamentary Assembly | |
House of Federation | Upper chamber of legislature | Elected by the State Councils | ||
House of Peoples' Representatives | Lower chamber of legislature | First-past-the-post | ||
Gabon | Currently no elections are held | |||
Guinea | Currently no elections are held | |||
Guinea-Bissau | President | Head of State | Two-round system | |
National People's Assembly | Unicameral legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Haiti | President | Head of State | Two-round system | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature | Two-round system | ||
Chamber of Deputies | Lower chamber of legislature | Two-round system | ||
Iran | Supreme Leader | Head of State | Elected by the Assembly of Experts | |
President | Head of Government | Two-round system | ||
Islamic Consultative Assembly | Unicameral legislature | |||
Assembly of Experts | Electoral College | |||
Kuwait | Emir | Head of state | Hereditary monarchy | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature | Single non-transferable vote | ||
Laos | President | Head of state | Elected by the National Assembly | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature | Plurality block voting | ||
Libya | Currently no elections are held | |||
Mali | Currently no elections are held | |||
Mauritania | President | Head of State | Two-round system | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature |
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Mozambique | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
Assembly of the Republic | Unicameral legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Myanmar | Currently no elections are held | |||
Nicaragua | President | Head of State and Government | First-past-the-post | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Niger | Currently no elections are held | |||
North Korea | Supreme People's Assembly | Unicameral legislature | First-past-the-post | |
Oman | Sultan | Head of State and Government | Hereditary monarchy | |
Council of State | Upper chamber of legislature | Appointed by the Sultan | ||
Consultative Assembly | Lower chamber of legislature | Single non-transferable vote | ||
Qatar | Emir | Head of state | Hereditary monarchy | |
Consultative Assembly | Unicameral legislature | First-past-the-post | ||
Russia | President | Head of State | Two-round system | |
Federation Council | Upper chamber of legislature | Elected by federal subjects' legislatures | ||
State Duma | Lower chamber of legislature | Parallel voting:
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Rwanda | President | Head of State and Government | First-past-the-post | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature |
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Chamber of Deputies | Lower chamber of legislature |
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Saudi Arabia | Currently no elections are held | |||
South Sudan | Currently no elections are held | |||
Sudan | Currently no elections are held | |||
Suriname | President | Head of State and Government | Elected by the National Assembly | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Syria | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
People's Council | Unicameral legislature | Party block voting | ||
Tajikistan | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
National Assembly | Upper chamber of legislature |
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Assembly of Representatives | Lower chamber of legislature | Parallel voting:
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Togo | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature | Party-list proportional representation | ||
Turkmenistan | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
Assembly | Unicameral of legislature | First-past-the-post | ||
Uzbekistan | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature |
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Legislative Chamber | Lower chamber of legislature | Two-round system | ||
Vatican City | Pope | Head of State | Elective monarchy | |
Venezuela | President | Head of State and Government | First-past-the-post | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature | Parallel voting:
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Vietnam | President | Head of State | Elected by the National Assembly | |
National Assembly | Unicameral legislature | Two-round system | ||
Yemen | Currently no elections are held | |||
Zimbabwe | President | Head of State and Government | Two-round system | |
Senate | Upper chamber of legislature |
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National Assembly | Lower chamber of legislature | Parallel voting:
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Countries with limited recognition
[edit]Colonies and dependencies
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]- ACE Electoral Knowledge Network Expert site providing encyclopedia on Electoral Systems and Management, country by country data, a library of electoral materials, latest election news, the opportunity to submit questions to a network of electoral experts, and a forum to discuss all of the above.
- A Handbook of Electoral System Design from International IDEA
- Electoral Design Reference Materials from the ACE Project
- PARLINE database from the Inter-Parliamentary Union
- Political Database of the Americas - Georgetown University
- Project for Global Democracy and Human Rights This page links to a table and a world map that is color-coded by the primary electoral system used by each country.