Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
I wrote a paper presentation on proportional representation for a low level Poli Sci. I see a lot of benefits, with few drawbacks. Its a pity that it does not seem to get as serious recognition as it should as an issue. About the only benefit that poli sci class had was to make me more convinced of the systemic issues in our supposed democracy.
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The downside is political paralysis when the electorate delivers a fractured parliament of a dozen different parties with disparate agendas. The Netherlands and Belgium had their national elections about 2 months ago and are both still without a government. Both of these countries are coming out of a couple years of fragile governing coalitions and both need some pretty serious work to address their local economic situations. Neither seem to be any closer to solving their problems.
The Netherlands are talking about forming a *minority* coalition among centre-right parties - no better than what we have in Canada. In Belgium, the second place French Socialists are being encouraged to come up with some agreement with the seat-leading centre-right Flemish nationalists. These two parties couldn't be more different in their goals (austerity measures and a loose federation on one side and socialist redistribution of wealth from the rich Flemish part of the country to the poor French part on the other side). It's no surprise that they can't reach an agreement.
The Belgium example is pretty similar to what I would imagine we would end up with here in Canada:
Centre-Right party formed from the remains of the Conservative party
Centre-Left party formed from the Liberals minus their soft NDP supporters
Socialists
French Separatists
English Regionalists (Perhaps Western separatists as a separate group)
Green Party
Fringe parties on all sides including religious and racial parties
After the election, you would either get a coalition cobbled together around the centre-right or the centre-left (i.e. the same as what we've had in Canada since confederation), using none of the parties' platforms as a governing platform. Negotiations would happen behind closed doors and the government would be chosen by the party leaders.
See:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/n...on-allies.html
http://www.europeanvoice.com/article...ome/68628.aspx
http://www.forexyard.com/en/news/Key...12541Z-FACTBOX