What would be the composition of the Assembly if it was a PR system like in Israel?
In a Proportional Representation (PR) system like in Israel, each party gets seats in the legislature in proportion to its share of votes. The composition of the Tamil Nadu Assembly would be calculated as follows:
Step 1: Apply the minimum threshold In Israel, a party must get a minimum of 3.25% votes to be eligible for seats. Therefore, parties like BJP (2.84%), DMDK (2.39%), CPI (0.79%), IUML (0.73%), and Independents (1.43%) would not qualify for any seats.
Step 2: Calculate seats based on vote percentage For the remaining parties, seats would be approximately:
- AIADMK: 40.77% of 232 = 95 seats
- DMK: 31.64% of 232 = 73 seats
- INC: 6.42% of 232 = 15 seats
- PMK: 5.32% of 232 = 12 seats
- Other Parties: 6.37% of 232 = 15 seats
Under this system, no single party would have a majority (AIADMK would have only 95 out of 232 seats), leading to a coalition government.
Explanation
The textbook explains that in Israel's PR system, 'a party gets the same proportion of seats as its proportion of votes.' The context also mentions the 3.25% minimum threshold requirement. Students should apply both these rules to calculate the seat distribution. The key difference from the actual FPTP results is that smaller parties like PMK and Other Parties would gain representation, while AIADMK's dominance would be reduced from 135 seats to approximately 95 seats, making coalition government necessary.
Solution Steps
Step 1: Identify parties meeting the 3.25% minimum threshold (AIADMK, DMK, INC, PMK, Other Parties)
Step 2: Calculate seats for each qualifying party by multiplying vote percentage with total seats (232)
Step 3: AIADMK: 40.77% × 232 95 seats; DMK: 31.64% × 232 73 seats; INC: 6.42% × 232 15 seats; PMK: 5.32% × 232 12 seats; Other Parties: 6.37% × 232 15 seats
Step 4: Note that parties below threshold (BJP, DMDK, CPI, IUML, Independents) get 0 seats