We see that majoritarian systems advantage some parties while disadvantaging others in ways that are not always predictable. Regardless of boundary lines and support in any single district, proportional systems ensure that each party gets about the same share of seats as their share of votes: lime would have 1 seat (20% of the seats), while black and purple would each have 2 seats (40% of the seats).

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Voting Systems, Majority Governments and Minority Governments

Though both majoritarian and proportional voting systems can result in majority and minority governments, majority governments are relatively more common with majoritarian systems while minority governments are relatively more common with proportional systems: by providing advantage to some parties, majoritarian voting systems make it relatively easy for an advantaged party to receive over half the seats without the support of over half the voters; but with proportional voting systems, the only way for a party to form a majority government is if over half the voters actually express support for it. Because majoritarian systems make formation of majority governments easier while proportional systems do not, it is important to understand the differences between how majority and minority governments rule. 

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Since all majority governments have over half the seats in their legislature, they are guaranteed to have the necessary votes to implement most any legislation they desire (depending on party control, abstentions and if there are any procedures that require more than a simple majority to pass). Because their power to pass legislation is all but assured, majority governments tend to share certain common features: they rule for the entirety of their term; they rule without having to consider the opinions of other parties; and, being unable to affect legislation, the non-governing parties take up an adversarial stance, not offering suggestions and constructive criticism so much as insisting they could rule better. Furthermore, in a majoritarian system, if a party achieves a majority government for a term with support from a minority of voters, a relatively small shift in voter preference at the next election can bring a different party into power as majority government, able to rule as it sees fit. Such a great shift in government has significant effects for the public: as goals and governing style shift, government agencies suffer from instability in policy, purpose, and job security, and previous legislation may be repealed for partisan reasons. These changes have budgetary consequences, especially since government control can ping-pong endlessly between parties implementing, repealing, and re-implementing their pet legislation and policies.

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When no party has over half the seats in legislature, a majority government cannot be formed -- the party that gets to rule requires additional votes to pass legislation and so must consider the views of other parties. Minority governments have to listen to their peers across the aisle and work together to create laws that are acceptable to wider variety of representatives (and voters), either on a case-by-case basis or by making a formal coalition with some other parties. If a minority government tries to rule without regard to others, they can be voted down, losing their position as government and forcing a new election. So, while minority governments can be less stable than majority governments, the potential to lose their position of power during their term holds them accountable, but majority governments can only be brought to account at the end of their term. In contrast, legislation of a majority government can be less stable than a cooperative minority government's.