THE IMPACT OF THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTIONING OF THE MACEDONIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM

Abstract

Giovanni Sartori in his famous book Comparative Constitutional Engineering pointed out that the electoral
systems are not only the most manipulative instrument of politics but also they influence the shaping of the
party system and the determination of representativeness. In that regard, the theory is always emphasizing
the influence of the electoral system over the stability of the political system, the consolidation or
fragmentation of the party system, the relationships between the elected and the voters, the voters’ turnout,
the corruption present in the electoral process, the conflict management process in one divided society, etc.
In that perspective, the Macedonian story is a great possibility to analyze the influence of the electoral
system over the political system taking into consideration that Macedonian political elites throughout the
years often decided to change the rules of the electoral system when electing Macedonian MPs. The first
and the second parliamentary elections were held using the Majoritarian electoral system. For the third
parliamentary election, Macedonian political elites decided to introduce the parallel electoral system. In
2002, another change happened and the proportional electoral system with a closed list was introduced.
Since then, all parliamentary elections have been organized by using this electoral system. In the last couple
of years in the wider public, the need for electoral reforms and the introduction of a new electoral system
were often raised. Having all this into consideration, the paper will aim to analyze the influence of different
electoral systems over the development and functioning of the Macedonian political system, as well as, to
analyze what kind of impact newly proposed electoral solutions could produce.