Some say "hey, we need to change the voting system in the UK. Proportional representation will solve all issues and guarantee the left (not Labour who they see as red Tories) will triumph time and again"
Of course FPTP is an awful system and PR is more democratic but...
Do all countries with PR always vote for proper left or green parties?
I'm afraid not.
Israel uses PR. A system that allowed far right nationalist groups to flourish and impose their views on on other parties who also moved to the right.
It's not a panacea, eh? I'm in Italy & it took me yrs to even begin to understand pros/cons of PR here, in various forms. I've seen 1 MP from a min "party" (basically him) in a fragile ruling coalition hold the govt to ransom, to not make the govt fall. Hardly democracy (NO defence if FPTP, btw!)
In the 5th Republic, France switched to PR following the 1981 elections. This was a promise from the Socialist Communist coalition that came to power that year.
In 1986, the centre right parties promised a return to runoff if they won.
They won a majority under PR and reinstated runoff.
I've seen other horror stories of gaming the PR system - in law reforms, elections & more. BUT still, my gut still says it can be far more democratic. A problem is often when we talk of PR, we all * know * what we're talking about, but it's rarely clear WHICH PR we're talking about - it's legion!
Most people in the discussion (who are not deeply immersed*) tend to mean a cloud of Single Transferable Vote options, I think.
*I’m about one cm further into the minutiae :)
Aotearoa has seen two vastly different outcomes from MMP in the last two elections, i'm in favour of an uncomplicated STV as the least of all the voting evils
isn't gonna happen though, just have to hope people play nice, mostly
Hey Sophie! When you say least of all evils - what are the drawbacks? I've literally only experience of Italian systems, so trying to get a handle on diff approaches in practice...if you can be arse - if you can't, no worries, it's Saturday, it's allowed 😉
i dislike being backed into a corner, so read everything i could lay my hands on about the theory of the proposed options and how they varied in practise
2/5
absolutely not, squirrelbrain will go on for hours about the minutiae, i have to be careful to stay on the subject and not veer wildly off into the distance of "oooooh, shiny"
