Indirect election

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Elections

This series is part of
the Politics series

Psephology
Electoral systems
Criticisms of electoralism
Electoral fraud
General election
Local election
By-election
Fixed-term election
Indirect election
Secret ballot
Suffrage
Pluralism
Elections by country
Elections by date
Referendum
Redistricting
Gerrymandering
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Indirect election is a process in which voters in an election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice. This process is used in many union elections and sometimes in professional, civic, and fraternal organizations, as well as in the election for President of the United States.

Elections
This series is part of the Politics series
Psephology Electoral systems Criticisms of electoralism Electoral fraud General election Local election By-election Fixed-term election Indirect election Secret ballot Suffrage Pluralism Elections by country Elections by date Referendum Redistricting Gerrymandering
· [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit]

In the United States, the President is elected indirectly. Voters elect a slate of candidates for the Electoral College, which in turn elects the President. A similar process has been used in the past in emerging democracies, i.e., South Korea and the Republic of the Philippines, but it was soon dismantled in favor of direct election. Only in the United States has a process of indirect presidential election persisted for over two centuries. The Senate was elected by the legislatures of the states until 1913, when the Thirteenth Amendment instituted direct elections.

In France, election to the upper house of Parliament, the Sénat, are indirect, the electors (called "grand électeurs") being local elected representatives.

Prime Ministers are elected indirectly in parliamentary systems. While members of the parliamentary body are elected directly, it is their votes, usually cast for their party leader, which determine who becomes Prime Minister. However, a Prime Minister is more a representative of the parliament, a 'primus enter pares' (first among equals), who has just one vote, just like any other member of parliament, and therefore does not have the power that presidents have. Such a system tends to make all elections more about national issues than is generally the case in the U.S., where it is very commonplace for some districts routinely to vote, often by a large majority, for a Presidential candidate from one party and a member of Congress from the other. Then again, a parliamentary system usually also has separate elections for lower governments (such as city or province). So the same system may be used at different independent levels, possibly even with different parties.

Indirect election

See also