FPTP vs MMP

[CLIFFORD ILKAY]

Jamon Camisso wrote:
> Do remember that it was a group of citizens that came up with the 
> proposal. That is, a group of our (the electorate) peers.

So? We did not vote for members of that "citizen assembly". If that 
assembly is supposed to be representative by virtue of having been 
picked at random from the citizenry, why do we bother with elections and 
not pick our governments that way as well? Note: I am not suggesting we 
do this.

> Also, I might point out a certain http://www.parlament.ch/e/homepage, 
> where proportional representation has served well for a few hundred 
> years...

And I might point out that Canada's model of government is based upon 
the Westminster parliamentary system, which has been around much longer 
than just about any other democratic form of government. The 
ineffectiveness and the seeming propensity of otherwise intelligent men 
and women turning into blathering idiots once they are in office has 
more to do with an uninformed citizenry with short attention spans than 
some feature of our electoral system. In other words, as long as 
political contests are nothing more than beauty contests and with adept 
spin doctoring, a party can convince the electorate that their otherwise 
indefensible positions on certain issues are the right positions, we get 
exactly the governments we deserve. I do not believe MMP will change any 
of that and will have some unintended consequences.

I have been reading reports that New Zealanders are not happy with MMP 
after having voted for it. Whether that reflects majority opinion or 
not, I do not know.

For an interesting essay about the issue of electoral reform in the 
Westminster parliamentary system, see: 
<http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~pnorris/Acrobat/APSA%202000%20bpg%20Twilight.pdf>.
-- 
Regards,

Clifford
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