Coalitions in proportional partisan municipal elections: fragmentation and success of electoral candidates with low density

Abstract

The institutional design of the Brazilian electoral system touts political parties to occupy a seat in the legislative houses to reach the electoral quotient, which is the ratio of the number of valid votes by the number of existing seats. In practice this device acts as a barrier clause, since this number is difficult to achieve. One way to minimize this problem is through the institutional arrangement of the party coalition in proportional elections, from the maxim that unity is strength. The data from this study suggest that this design creates two problems: high party fragmentation in the legislative chambers, and electoral success of candidates with a limited number of votes. Since these two phenomena are associated, respectively, with problems of governance and representation, which calls into question the efficiency of the electoral system. Data pertain to the municipal elections in Brazil in 2004 and 2008 regarding 5,565 municipalities.