Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to Oops, I fell down (& other excuses for not voting)

re: Oops, I fell down (& other excuses for not voting)
Robert — (archived)

You're absolutely right that winner-take-all electoral systems lead to hard feelings, feelings of resentment, and lack of enthusiasm for participation. Look no further than the reaction of Republicans to a few years out of power--they start complaining of bias and discrimination and dirty tricks by the Democrats. Of course, Republicans also complain about bias and discrimination and dirty tricks by the Democrats when they're in power, but it's worse when they've gone a few years without a taste of power to satisfy the craving.

The French and Australian systems are superior when it comes to electing executive offices like Prez or PM or governor or mayor. As you say, they allow people to vote their consciences instead of keeping an eye on the polls to make sure they're not "wasting" their vote on somebody who can't win--"tactical" voting.

It seems more straightforward to improve legislative representation with something like nationwide proportional voting. I think many of the European parliaments are based on party votes which result in allocation of a percentage of seats, which in essence are held by a party and not an individual. That's a step in the right direction, but I'm a bit uncomfortable with the indirection of electing parties instead of people. Even when I'm suggesting that institutions like business might be represented, I'm assuming that it's not through an intermediary like a party. We've seen all too much of how political parties take on a life of their own and soon become obsessed with their own interests instead of the voters they claim to represent. I've come to believe that political parties are unhealthy to a democracy.

Which touches on part of my agenda with this idea, breaking the monopolistic grip of the two major (US) parties on government. I'd like to see little parties like the Libertarians and Greens (to pick two polar opposites) have a voice, albeit a small one in proportion to their real influence on society. The resulting spirited debate among a diversity of viewpoints seems to me the very essence of democracy.

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (79 posts)