[EM] Political Parties and Proportional Representation

[Donald E Davison]

Greetings,                              11/18/99

     I believe political parties are a mutation of the representative
system of government, but I also believe political parties are here to
stay.

     The problem some of us have with political parties can be offset by
proportional representation(PR).
     If and when we gain a good form of PR, I expect we will have an
expansion of the number of parties. Such an expansion will reduce the power
of any one party. Current parties know this and therefore they are the main
resistance to PR.
     I regard a good form of PR as being a system that will allow a group
to elect one member per 100 for every one percent of the popular vote the
group has gained in an election.

     A good form of PR will go a long way towards solving the problems some
of us have with political parties. We should not fail to see this silver
lining that exists in proportional representation.

Regards, Donald
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From: Paul Isaacs <Redpine at Sympatico.ca>
To:  Donald E Davison <donald at mich.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 01:10:58 -0500
Subject: Re: Droop quota role in STV's electing most prefered candidates.

{ snip }

  If you believe in proportional representation, you believe in the
suitability of the party system. Otherwise why go to all the trouble, and
arguments, about the best way of selecting their representatives?

  Lots of people, including myself of course, aren't particularly fond of
political parties. Long dissertations and mathematical arguments about the
best way to select party representatives seem to me to be missing the
forest for the trees. Political parties are a major source of our political
problems.
  Why institutionalize them at the heart of the voting system? Talk about
putting the fox in the hen house! Just an all round inferior idea despite
its technical sparkles.

Regards,

Paul Isaacs

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   |                         Q U O T A T I O N                         |
   |  "Democracy is a beautiful thing,                                 |
   |       except that part about letting just any old yokel vote."    |
   |                            - Age 10                               |
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