Approval- Cumulative Votes p.r. methods

[DEMOREP1 at aol.com]

Mr. Layton wrote in part--

One-year governments would basically be passing some token popularist

legislation, and campaigning for the next election.  There would be no

medium term accountability for the effects of legislation (ie once the

budget for one year had been passed, the effects wouldn't be felt at all

until another government was in power).  The bureaurocracy, with long-term

tenure, would basically be able to run the government, and direct the

elected officials (increased scope for corruption).


I think all these problems are actually evident in the annual elections in

Italy.  I'm not sure if they are still used, but were up to at least the

late 80s / early 90s.  There was widespread agreement amoung analysts that

this was one of the major factors for the instability and inefficiency of

the Italian political system in comparison with its European neighbours.
----
D- I beg to differ.  Annual elections would cause the effects of EVERY law on 
the books to be examined.  If a majority of the voters did not like parts of 
a budget (as shown by the election results), then the new legislators could 
always change it.

ALL political power is in the People at ALL times (NOT the temporary 
representatives/ legislators in office who pay some attention to the People 
only on election days).  

In the U.K. (with NO written constitution) the Middle Ages notion (aka 
Westminster) lingers on that ALL power is in the Parliament and Crown 
(king/queen monarch).

Is the U.K. House of Commons elected using proxy p.r. (to get indirect 
majority rule) ??? Is the U.K. House of Lords elected by the People ??? Is 
the Crown elected by the People ???  

Current Answers- NO, NO and NO.

The State of Connecticut in the U.S. during the 1775-1781 American Revolution 
held Legislature elections every six months (May and November) and seems to 
have survived (CT was not in the main battle zones during the entire war).

There was a phrase -- Tyranny begins when annual elections end.

In the U.S., the U.S. House of Representatives and most, if not all, lower 
houses of the 50 State legislatures have 2 year terms and seem able to 
survive (with computerized single member districts gerrymanders in each -- 
putting about 95 percent of incumbents in safe de facto one party districts).

The continuous election problems in Italy are due to its very defective 
constitution-  a very defective p.r. system applied to its parliamentary 
system (having mixed legislative and executive officers) (due to a failure of 
the Allied Military Goverment in 1945-1946  to properly set up a democratic 
election structure in Italy -- nothing new -- win a war and do the wrong 
things so political chaos continues in the defeated country).

I note Israel finally got around to having separate elections for its prime 
minister and its p.r. parliament (Knesset) (with some rather strange mutual 
political suicide election provisions in the Israeli election law/ 
constitution if the prime minister and a majority in the Knesset cannot get 
along).