19 A. Plurality systems — First Past the Post (FPTP)

Rule: the country is divided into single-member constituencies; the candidate with the most votes wins — no majority needed, no second round. • Examples: UK, USA, India (Lok Sabha), Canada; Nepal: 165 of the 275 HoR seats; all local executive heads (mayors, chairs) and ward positions. • Merits: simplicity (one X); clear winner → stable single-party government; strong MP– constituency link (the "khojé-khojé" service MP); excludes fringe extremists; cheap to administer. • Demerits: disproportionality — votes ≠ seats (a party at 35% can take 60% of seats; parties concentrated regionally over-win, dispersed parties vanish — the "winner's bonus"); wasted votes; gerrymandering risk; two-party squeeze (Duverger's law); minorities under- represented; winning candidate often opposed by a majority of constituents.