How Can We Clean Up Politics In This Country?

[truman]

 

Then I'd abolish the house of Lords, and replace them with a body of ordinary people representing the demographics of the country, and also professional experts in different fields.

 

How would you choose these people?

[El Cid]

We should have the same election system that we use for the EU elections, for all elections.

The electoral commission thought about what systems to use for our new parliaments in Scotland and Wales, first past the post was not a good system.

[RonJeremy]

Direct democracy is unworkable - you only have to read the comments on The Mail Online website or an issue on FaceBook to realise how utterly stupid many many people are.

[unbeliever]

We should have the same election system that we use for the EU elections, for all elections.

The electoral commission thought about what systems to use for our new parliaments in Scotland and Wales, first past the post was not a good system.

 

Perpetual coalitions. Are you okay with that?

Makes it hard to hold the government to a manifesto. Are you okay with that?

Extreme parties such as the BNP would be represented. Are you okay with that?

You vote for a party and not a person. Are you okay with that?

 

STV/AV was a reasonable compromise. But the people rejected it. Full PR has many flaws.

[El Cid]

2. Right of recall on the basis of a simple petition.

 

I dont agree with this, 24% of the electorate elected my Conservative MP, it would be too easy for opponents to get get of her.

[unbeliever]

I dont agree with this, 24% of the electorate elected my Conservative MP, it would be too easy for opponents to get get of her.

 

What percentage of the vote did she get, and what was the majority?

[El Cid]

Perpetual coalitions. Are you okay with that?

Makes it hard to hold the government to a manifesto. Are you okay with that?

Extreme parties such as the BNP would be represented. Are you okay with that?

 

Many successful countries use PR, I think that parliament should be ruled by a real majority, whether I agree with that majority would not be relevant.

[unbeliever]

Many successful countries use PR, I think that parliament should be ruled by a real majority, whether I agree with that majority would not be relevant.

 

Do their parliaments function better than ours?

[El Cid]

Do their parliaments function better than ours?

 

I dont know, the little that I hear about the Nordic countries, that would be my ideal. I should really research the systems that they have.

[unbeliever]

I dont know, the little that I hear about the Nordic countries, that would be my ideal. I should really research the systems that they have.

 

Indeed.

The German MMPR works pretty well.

They basically run a FPTP system and then top up from party lists to achieve proportionality.

You're voting for both an individual candidate and their party list. Which I think is nicely accommodating.

You can also have a threshold to get any representation which ought to keep the extremists out.

 

Still leaves them in a perpetual state of coalition though.

 

The problem you're going to have is that we had a referendum on AV which is the first step in the long transition to some kind of PR. It was defeated by 2:1.

You can't really in good conscience change the voting system radically without a referendum.

So whatever you and I think, the people have made their decision.

 

I like the idea of PR for the upper house. As long as it remains in it's role of revising and the real power remains in the commons, I wouldn't have thought it would be anything like as controversial.

Edited August 5, 2015 by unbeliever