Electoral districts in Jordan

Abstract

This study identifies the electoral district divisions in Jordan and the factors affecting these divisions, as well as identifying the problems related to electoral district distribution. This study tackles the patterns of electoral districts, the evolution of electoral laws in Jordan and the division of electoral districts in the Jordanian electoral laws. The study uses a combination of quantitative and analytical approaches. The importance of the study comes from the fact that it examines the executive branch’s hegemony over the electoral process, as it draws and divides electoral districts as part of its hegemony and control over elections. As a result, electoral districts remain divided in a way that does not take into account the geographical distribution of the population, which in turn results in parliaments that are not representative of all segments of Jordanian society. The study concludes that the executive authority’s domination in drawing and dividing electoral districts as part of its hegemony and control over the general policy of elections has purposefully neglected population density and geographical criteria. This chapter furthermore shows that this arbitrary electoral policy has led to the loss of the credibility of elections. In light of this, the study recommends the urgent need to implement electoral law that achieves the standards of distributive justice to raise citizens’ confidence in parliament and thus reduce the percentage of wasted votes to reach a truly representative parliament.