Elections and electoral systems

Izbori su temelj demokracije svake moderne države. Izbori označavaju formalni postupak izbora nekog kandidata za javnu funkciju ili prihvaćanje, tj. odbijanje određenog političkog prijedloga glasovanjem. Demokratska reprezentacija ili demokratski poredak nezamislivi su bez izbora i bez nadmetanja društvenih i političkih snaga za političku vlast. Kako bi izbori bili valjani moraju biti slobodni i kompetitivni jer jedino tada dobivaju na svom demokratskom značaju. Izborni sustavi sveobuhvat su pravila po kojima glasači donose odluke o političkim strankama ili kandidatima temeljem vlastitih preferencija određenim načinom preoblikovanja broja glasova u mandate. Bez tih pravila ne bi se moglo dokučiti tko je pobijedio, a tko izgubio te za koliko glasova. Također pravila su tu kako bi sve bilo standardizirano i kvalitetno funkcioniralo. Pri odabiru određenog tipa izbornog sustava koji će biti najbolji za određeno pitanje vrlo je važno da promjene, ukoliko ih uopće budu, budu minimalne jer mogu imati jaki utjecaj na odnos različitih političkih snaga. Kako bi izborni sustav maksimizirao svoju korist, oni koji ih kreiraju moraju na umu imati mnoge faktore kao što su: raspodjela izbornih okruga, veličina izbornih jedinica, pravila nadmetanja u izborima, sam postupak glasovanja, pravila odlučivanja pobjednika i sl. Svaki navedeni faktori uvelike određuje ishod izbora stoga pomnim sagledavanje situacije i racionalnim odlučivanjem dolazi se do efikasnog izbornog sustava.Elections are the foundation of democracy in any modern state. Elections mean the formal process of electing a candidate for public office or accepting or rejecting a particular political proposal by voting. Democratic representation or democratic order are inconceivable without elections and without the competition of social and political forces for political power. In order for elections to be valid, they must be free and competitive, because only then do they gain in their democratic significance. Electoral systems are comprehensive rules under which voters make decisions about political parties or candidates based on their own preferences in a particular way of transforming the number of votes into seats. Without these rules, it would not be possible to figure out who won and who lost, and by how many votes. Also the rules are there to make everything standardized and work well. When choosing a particular type of electoral system that will be best for a particular issue, it is very important that the changes, if any, be minimal because they can have a strong impact on the relationship of different political forces. In order for the electoral system to maximize its benefits, those who create them must keep in mind many factors such as: distribution of constituencies, size of constituencies, rules of competition in elections, the voting process itself, rules for deciding winners, etc. the outcome of the elections, therefore, by careful consideration of the situation and rational decision-making, an efficient electoral system is arrived at