How do party systems in other countries compare to ours?

How do party systems in other countries compare to ours?

Matthew Jones (Political Science Instructor) gives expert video advice on: Why do we have political parties?; Is the US really only a two-party system?; Who decides what the party stands for? and more...

One of the big things is that party systems in other countries tend to be more multiparty systems, not just two party systems. Now, that's true because, for one their electoral system is different. So it's not whoever wins the most votes gets that district. So, for instance, Senator Dianne Feinstein in California, she wins 51% of the vote. Well, the other 49% of the people who voted for somebody else doesn't matter. She wins California. Well, in a proportional representation system, if there's 100 seats in the senate or in the legislature, then everybody votes for a particular party, and the party gets the percentage of seats in the legislature that they got votes in the electorate. So if they get 42% of the vote in the electorate, they get 42 seats. Which makes it easier for third parties, who might only get 8% of the vote, to gain seats in the legislature. Because if you get 8% of the vote in the Netherlands, for instance, you get 8% of the representation. Whereas if you get 8% of the vote in California, you get no representation.