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Old 08-07-2003, 02:22 PM   #37
Yorick
Very Mad Bird
 

Join Date: January 7, 2001
Location: Breukelen (over the river from New Amsterdam)
Age: 53
Posts: 9,246
There ARE big problems with proprtional representation.

1.Instability. The chances of there being no political party with a clear majority are much higher. Thus governmnets can be formed on the basis of fragile and often ideologically contradictory alliances.

2.Disproportionate voice. Minority parties end up having a dispropotionate voice in matters of government. A small party elected on a "legalise guns platform" can get a minorty view enacted a slaw, because of the necessity of dealmaking in a proprtionate rep. system.

3.Increase in influence of extremist and racist parties. The precedent in Europe speaks for itself. Exhibit A. The rise of the far right. La Penn et al.

4.You cannot vote for who you DON'T want.
Under a two-party-preferred system of preferencial voting, you vote for who you want, but by listing preferences also vote for who you DON'T want. Consequently the horrifying result in France of them having to pick between tewo unsavoury characters would not have occured under a TPP preferencial system. It means three popular personalities that split a democratic vote cannot be outdone by one personality taking the extremist vote. THe three democrats can place the totalitarian LAST on their recommended preferences.

This was how Pauline Hanson - the highly racist ignoramus from Australia - was defeated and wiped out of Australian politics. Every party put her last on their recommended preferences and her party was demolished.

Australia, like the US has an elected Senate. An upper house that gives each state a greater voice, not as reliant on population size. THe Senate, as it turns out, has a measure of proportional representation. So minority parties do get an important voice, but it doesn't impact on the ability of a government to govern with stability.
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