resident has historically been supported by a substantial amount of congress rendering coalitions unnecessary. According to tale 11.1in Mainwaring and Shugart, the president in Uruguay has had an average of 45.6% of the seats in the Lower House and 43.8% of the seats in the upper house. This congressional composition is an ideal amount of support because it allows checks and balances to work; yet, the president can successfully implement a program. The last election in Uruguay did not yield this traditional composition. No party received a significant majority. The votes were split three ways between the Blanco, the Colorado, and the EP (Progressive Encounter). Whether or not this significant plurality trend will continue is unclear. The president of Argentina has usually enjoyed a significant amount of support in congress from his/her own party and coalitions. Mainwaring and Shugart's table11.1 shows Argentina President to have an average support of 48.3% in the Lower House and 52% in the upper house. Including coalition partners 49% in the Lower House and 52.0% in the upper house supports the president. This kind of congressional composition has the ability to inhibit checks and balance by a minority party. This is the extreme of winner take all politics, majority politics. In the last presidential election, the PJ (Personist Party) won 49.8% of the vote, not closely followed the FG (FREPASO) with 29.2%, followed by the UCR (Radical Civic Union). Since then, the PJ has lost a significant majority and only through a coalition between with other party can it hope to achieve a congressional majority. Effective Parties Mainwaring and Shugart argue those institutional arrangements like timing and type of election has an impact on the number of parties, as well as, the district magnitude. Countries with high district magnitude are likely to have more parties. Holding congressional elections non-concurrently and elec...
