The Mixed Electoral System and Its Impact on the Strength of the Parliamentary Opposition (Germany as a Model)

Abstract

Abstract

 The strength of the opposition and its impact on political action depends on the way it was formed in Parliament, which depends on the amount of legitimacy it obtained from the voting individuals, and since the electoral systems convert those votes cast into seats in Parliament for the competing political parties and power, so the type of electoral system The one adopted in a country affects the strength of the parliamentary opposition by affecting the number of parties represented in parliament and the number of seats they obtain as a result of applying an arithmetic formula for a particular voting system. In this regard, the mixed electoral system is one of those systems, which is commonly used in some countries, including Germany, and it is a somewhat complicated system because it combines the individual system (the majority) and the proportional list, as the German voter casts his vote individually by choosing his representative from his constituency, as well as the proportional list by choosing the party list at the state level, and this in turn reflects on the issue of the existence of the main parties and parties The small ones that directly affect the question of forming the government and the opposition in each electoral cycle.