12.29.2017 01:34 PM

Me and Charles Adler on 2017’s winners and losers, proportional representation, ethics and the GOP

All right here.

6 Comments

  1. Our current First Past the Post (FPTP) system may not be perfect but it leaves voting in the hands of the voter, not political parties. It promotes stability and accountability in government and offers simplicity in voting. Join our non-partisan Facebook Group: First Past the Post … It Works for Canada / Ça Marche Pour Moi.
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/1577709182538721/

    • Sorry. Michael not Michale

    • doconnor says:

      How does it promote accountability when the an artificial majorities it creates prevent parliament from using its powers to hold the government to account?

      • It is the VOTERS who hold the government accountable under FPTP. If the government screws up, the voters throw them out. Ask the voters in Germany, with MMP-PR voting, how accountable the government is to them. Both the CDU and SDP party suffered major losses in the last election. But they are the ones who are now negotiating a coalition government.

        • doconnor says:

          Without a majority to block parliamentary investigations government secrecy will increase.

          The CDU and SDP may have suffered losses, but they still represent the majority of voters.

          • Not only did the CDU and SDP suffer losses, but virtually no one in Germany wanted to continue with the “Grand Coalition” they formed in recent years. (A grand coalition between two opposing parties is actually an admission that a real coalition of like-minded parties was impossible.)

            PR systems are often blamed for political instability, but they can also create too much stability, as politicians continue in power as part of changing coalitions, and as in Germany the voters can’t seem to get rid of them.

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