[EM] Introductory Message

[Stephane Rouillon]

James Gilmour a écrit :

> > >James Gilmour had written:
> > >As you are also a citizen of Ireland, I am surprised you did not
> > >recognise the potential benefits of changing the Knesset voting system
> > >to STV-PR, as used in Ireland.  The only two changes from Dáil
> > >Éireann I would suggest are larger electoral districts and
> > the use of the Northern Ireland STV counting rules.

STV is hard to resolve without a computer... Even if I think it is the actual best method for
multiple-winners using relatively large districts, I would not recommmend it to persons doing hand
counts...

> James Green-Armytage commented:
> >       I will second this suggestion. STV seems like the right
> > way to do proportional representation. If you were married to
> > paper ballots, then you probably couldn't do the whole
> > Knesset in one district, so you might have to sacrifice some
> > proportionality.
>
> Even if it were possible to "do the the whole Knesset in one district", I would most strongly advise
> against it.  The underlying problems with politics in Israel are exacerbated by the large number of
> very small parties that gain seats in the Knesset.  A district magnitude of 120 (all the members)
> would make this even worse than at present, when it is constrained (to a small extent) by the 1.5%
> threshold.  Districts based on some "natural" communities within the national boundary would deal
> with that without the need for an artificial threshold.  There is more to electing an effective
> parliament than simply securing party PR.
> James

Other ways are available to cope with such a problem.  You can ensure a stable government (garantee a
stable bipartite coalition at worst) without denying any philosophy
a fair representation. There is more to electing an effective parliament than simply voting for persons
too. You need a team to make an efficient parliament. STV can't garantee stability even if it sacrifices
party PR. SPPA can and the fact it keeps plain party PR is just a bonus.

Steph