5.6 Mechanical and psychological effects of voting systems (4)

The electorate reacts to the electoral system by strategically defecting from their preferred party to a more viable party. Voter-centric psychological effects – strategic voting – have become the focal point of electoral research in recent years.

Strategic voting occurs under different electoral formulas, suggesting that voters anticipate the mechanical effects of electoral rules in various settings.

District magnitude impacts party system size - this relationship is conditioned by heterogeneity. The more seats to be filled in a constituency, the more parties are competing, the more parties receive votes and the more parties gain seats.