[EM] STV relatively rare flaws

[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.

In addition, how can you make fair debates with STV during an election campaign? Please James tell me
how it works in Ireland because I find that a complex problem... The explosion of parties and their
number of representatives should create a mess in my eye.
Media owners should gain a huge advantage over others. Maybe it is because Ireland sticks to its main
parties. And if you do not care about party linkage, the fact stays, debates are hard to make fair while
inviting 20 "independant" candidates...

Steph