VII. The differences between parliamentary and presidential elections
| Figure 21 |
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PARLIAMENTARY
AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 1945-97 |
 |
Key: VAP = voting age population
no. = number of elections |
| Figure 22 |
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PARLIAMENTARY
AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OVER TIME |
 |
| Key: VAP = voting age population |
As already noted the average for all 1,088 parliamentary elections we have collected data for in this book was 65%, while the average for 345 presidential elections was a little lower - 60% (see Figure 21). Figure 22 more dramatically illustrates that parliamentary and presidential election turnout rates have been converging since 1945. Between 1945-1950, parliamentary elections could expect almost twice as many voters turning out than at presidential ones. While presidential elections throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s where characterized by lower average turnout rates than parliamentary elections, things have progressed to the point where they are now virtually indistinguishable. This has corresponded with an increase in the relative proportions of presidential elections: the number of presidential elections, which once were less than 30% of the corresponding number of parliamentary elections, now make up over 50% of this figure.
Europe maintains its top spot in the regional breakdown for presidential elections (as it did for parliamentary elections) and the remaining ordering is largely unaltered from Figure 13, apart from the switch around of Asia and the Middle East in fourth and fifth places and the disappearance of Oceania where there are no presidential elections (see Figure 23). A second article of conventional wisdom is that there is usually a substantial drop-off between the first and second rounds of presidential elections in Two-Round Electoral Systems. However, again the International IDEA data base refutes this thesis: the average for the first round of 32 elections with two rounds of voting was 66.7%, but the average second-round figure was only 0.7% less. Indeed, in 15 of the cases the turnout actually rose in the second round, in 16 cases it fell, while in one case both rounds recorded identical turnout figures.
Figure 23
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS BY REGION
Key: VAP = voting age population
no. = number of elections
