Proportional representation
Posted by andrew_bl on 2025-November-7 04:00:48, FridayIn reply to Searching for the soul of England posted by diogenes on 2025-November-6 18:32:28, Thursday
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Propprtional representation is wonderful in theory but often a nightmare in practice. It seems so good to say that if 30% of the electorate votes a certain way, then that party should receive 30% of the representation. But in reality, the quota system that goes alongside PR can actually bring about unrealistic and inequitable results. Now putting that aside, PR will inevitably bring about weak government....governments that cannot stand on their own but require support from strange bedfellows or unstable coalitions. Most European countries use proportional representation and sometimes decisive action can take years to be enacted because of it. An example of its unwieldiness is Italy 20 years ago when a very right-wing party formed a coalition with the Communist party to stay in power. This coalition lasted a whole 17 days! No be happy with your first-past-the-post voting system....certainly far from perfect but much better than weak PR. |
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