Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 195
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 195 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 195
READING PASSAGE – 2
Which Voting System Is Better?
A. Voting is often portrayed as a very simple activity – all that is required being a list of names, boxes, and a pen with which to tick the preferred option – but it is actually an intricate process that can take many different forms on which everyone from mathematicians to political scholars, interest groups, politicians, and voters often have divergent opinions. Two of the most popular of these voting systems are known as First-Past-the-Post (FPP) and Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP), and they have quite different features.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
B. FPP is one of the simplest voting systems. Voters select one person from a list of candidates in their electorate, and the candidate with the highest number of votes is elected to represent them. While this might sound simple and fair, it can have several undesirable effects. Firstly, because of the ‘all or nothing’ result, FPP produces a large number of wasted votes – votes which do not affect the outcome of the election. This is the case in the majority of electorates, which are safe or relatively safe.
Consequently, the party that gains the highest number of seats in Parliament may not actually gain the most votes – in the 2005 UK elections, for example, the Labour party governed alone with only 35 per cent of the vote. Because of the pressure on voters not to ‘waste’ their vote, FPP tends to foster tactical voting for a rival but the less popular candidate, thus sidelining minority voices and third-party candidacies in favour of a race between two, often similar, contestants.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
C. MMP attempts to create a parliament that represents a national consensus, rather than combining the results from dozens of local ‘mini-elections ’. Voters select their electorate candidate, as in FPP, but they also select a party, which will gain seats in Parliament proportionate to the party vote.
This opens the door for representation amongst parties that may have broad support nationally but not enough support in any single geographical area to win an electorate seat While Parliament as a whole may be more representative, however, the ability to affect change within Parliament can often accrue to a centrist, smaller party that has the ability to essentially choose the government, by selecting between the major parties as coalition partners.
This phenomenon is known as the ‘tail wagging the dog ’. Finally, the party vote tends to bring in Members of Parliament (MPs) in an order that is chosen, not by the electorate, but by the party itself. This is one of MMP’s undemocratic moves that favours party establishment and hierarchy over the will of the public.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
E. New Zealand’s transition from FPP to MMP demonstrates the benefits and drawbacks of each system In the 1970s, many New Zealanders grew disillusioned with the two-party system FPP did not provide voters with another viable option; however, the leading third party received a considerable 16 per cent of the vote in 1978 but gained only one of the 92 seats in Parliament – three years later, their vote share was up to 21 per cent, but they gained only two seats. A Royal Commission subsequently recommended a shift to MMP, and in 1993, a statewide referendum was held that passed in favour of the reform.
F. The 1996 elections wore away much public enthusiasm for MMP, however. The result was indecisive, and with neither major party able to govern alone, the power to form a coalition rested upon a third party, New Zealand First. Instead of forming a coalition with Labour – a party that many voters considered to be its natural ally- the New Zealand First party sided with the National party. This was followed by a subsequent rise in party-hopping – MPs leaving the parties from which they were elected. Eventually, the coalition disbanded with Prime Minister Jenny Shipley sacking New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters, from Cabinet.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
G. Nevertheless, after these initial teething problems, New Zealand voters and politicians have grown accustomed to MMP and learnt to focus on its possibilities rather than its hindrances. One of the most notable benefits is that Parliament has become far more representative of the diversity in modem New Zealand society.
MMP introduced a number of MPs who had previously been marginalized from mainstream politics: women, people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, and community activists. Relationships between major and minor parties have also grown more stable, and in many ways, minor parties now function as auditors keeping a check on the major parties. MMP is not without its flaws, but the transition has generally been a positive experience.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Questions 14-19
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this
14. Under FPP, the voter always selects the candidate that the voter likes best.
15. Many voters have no role in determining the electoral result in the FPP system.
16. FPP uses geographically determined electorates as a basis for electing MPs.
17. MMP may give minor parties disproportionate influence.
18. A change in the electoral system was rejected by New Zealand voters in the early 1990s.
19. In both FPP and MMP systems, the government may not be formed based on a majority voter mandate.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Questions 20-26
Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Public dissatisfaction with elections came about as a result of the 20………………. in New Zealand, and many people voted for a 21.………………. instead. However, the parliamentary representation was disproportionate to the number of votes received, and after investigation, this situation eventually led to a national 22………………. which asked the people to express their preference for a particular electoral system.
The first experience was messy; however, 23…………………ensued after the New Zealand First party decided to go into 24 …………………. with National instead of the Labour party. New Zealanders have since become used to MMP, and its advantages are now clearer. People once 25…………………..from affairs of state have gained access to Parliament, and major and minor parties now get along better – the latter taking on the role of 26………………….
IELTS Academic Reading Test
ANSWERS ARE BELOW
IELTS Academic Reading Test
ANSWERS
14. FALSE
15. TRUE
16. NOT GIVEN
17. TRUE
18. FALSE
19. TRUE
20. TWO-PARTY SYSTEM
21. THIRD-PARTY
22. REFERENDUM
23. PARTY-HOPPING
24. COALITION
25. MARGINALIZED
26. AUDITORS