[EM] Electoral reform in Poland: do away with proportional representation

[James Gilmour]

Rob reported
> According to the Warsaw Business Journal, there's a proposal on the
> table to move away from proportional representation, and toward single
> member districts elected by first-past-the-post. The article cites the
> difficulty in reaching consensus under the current system (which isn't
> surprising if they are relying on standard majoritarian rule amongst the
> elected representatives).
> Article is posted here:
> http://www.wbj.pl/user/article.asp?ArticleID=174929
> Also posted to Electorama!:
> http://electorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=
> 18&newlang=eng

They are not the first post-communist country to propose this change or to make
this change and I don't expect they will be the last.  However, they may find the
change is a jump from the frying pan into the fire.  First-past-the-post (FPTP) in
single-member districts gives no guarantee of "strong government", which seems to
be what they are looking for.  Sometimes it gives strong government (single-party
majority of seats) when a different party has more votes than the government
party.  And it is not a recipe for stability.  The UK suffered appallingly from
the political consequences of electoral instability and the reversals of
government and reversals of policy from 1945 to 1979.  For the next 20 years we
suffered again, but from stability of a very different kind.

It should be no surprise that there are difficulties in reaching consensus given
the size of the economic and social adjustments Poland is facing.  In such
circumstances some will always hanker for "the old times", while the coalitions of
politicians that constitute the new parties and political groups will be liable to
shift as some policies fail and other policies prove extremely unpopular.

I didn't understand your comment about majoritarian rule amongst the elected
representatives.  No matter how you build a consensus on any issue, at the end of
the day it will require majority support in the Parliament if it is to become
accepted national policy.  That will apply no matter whether you have majority
government of one party or a coalition, or minority government.  Of course, you
can improve the stability of the Parliament (and of the government) by avoiding
the stupid rule that any successful vote against the government automatically
means that the government falls.  Governments should be dismissed only on a
specific vote of no confidence.

James