The Great Alternative Vote Debate
I see a lot of heat, but very little light.
Let's start with a disclaimer. I'm an anarchist. As such, the mechanism by which the parties divvie up power is primarily of academic interest to me. That said, I'll launch into the debate of "what colour do you think the wheel should be?" and ignore the shape. Why not ( Read more... )
Let's start with a disclaimer. I'm an anarchist. As such, the mechanism by which the parties divvie up power is primarily of academic interest to me. That said, I'll launch into the debate of "what colour do you think the wheel should be?" and ignore the shape. Why not ( Read more... )
Ok, in the main I actually agree with you about the relative pointlessness of representative democracy as practiced here - we get very, very little say in actual policy, which is mainly set by the party leaders. Though sometimes I think this is a good thing, as I have a horrible feeling that genuine "rule by the people" would effectively be mob rule by the BNP-esque side of middle-class popular thinking. Gay people outlawed, public execution for any crime the papers stirred up a panic about, the abolition of speed limits but stocks / lashings for lower class crime, etc.
But re the Imperial bit, as it's the voting system of the UK, i.e. the controlling power, rather than any colony or subsidiary country, that is being discussed, where people do have a say in how they are ruled, then I don't see it as being a problem? More like a cat (individualist) and dog (collectivist) deciding how to cook steak?
Anyway, my main point on AV was that I'm no longer the "FPTP isn't fair!!!" SDP/Liberal activist I once was, and can now see benefits in both PR and FPTP. The real choice at this referendum is basically do we want to bury all possible talk of voting system reform for the next generation at least, or do we want to look for change. IMHO that would have actually been a better question to ask, and if people voted "yes, look at alternatives" then all the possible alternative systems could have been investigated properly by a royal commission or similar enquiry.
Deep down, I'm still in favour of a fully proportional system with lists and numbers of MPs per party based on their national percentage of the vote, and if constituency links are really that important then have a third chamber with several MPs per constituency to look at local issues.
But if FPTP wins next Thursday, so be it. Not really that fussed. Though it'll probably be the end of the Liberal Democrats as a party if it happens. And FPTP does actually work well in a two-party system.
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