Hot take: finding the perfect electoral system is missing the point. Even FPTP satisfies the one fundamental requirement for democracy, which is that if the government pisses off a sufficient portion of the population, they will lose power.
In right conditions, FPTP ticks more boxes than most give it credit for. Example, if your population is largely illiterate, or if there’s too many social divisions within your society, having cardinal voting system can actually be worse. These were some of the reasons India, post Independence, chose the FPTP over other systems like MMP or STV. Yes some Indian Independence leaders felt that MMP and STV would pull India further backwards, hence they chose FPTP.
The problem is, an electoral system chosen according for needs of society 80 years ago might not be suitable for one of today. Especially today, the biggest concern of literacy has been solved. But unfortunately electoral systems are quite frankly, super rigid, something you almost cannot change once you establish one.
This piece of Information I shared with you is why I wish people and experts should explore sortition. Electoral systems aren’t flawless, and especially in current form they’re really flawed.
Edit: also regarding people in power, yes while they cannot piss of a majority, they can easily scapegoat a minority
Even FPTP satisfies the one fundamental requirement for democracy, which is that if the government pisses off a sufficient portion of the population, they will lose power.
That is not actually true. In the US most people hate the guts of most politicians and yet those politicians stay in power because their electorate hates their opponents more.
Hot take: finding the perfect electoral system is missing the point. Even FPTP satisfies the one fundamental requirement for democracy, which is that if the government pisses off a sufficient portion of the population, they will lose power.
In right conditions, FPTP ticks more boxes than most give it credit for. Example, if your population is largely illiterate, or if there’s too many social divisions within your society, having cardinal voting system can actually be worse. These were some of the reasons India, post Independence, chose the FPTP over other systems like MMP or STV. Yes some Indian Independence leaders felt that MMP and STV would pull India further backwards, hence they chose FPTP.
The problem is, an electoral system chosen according for needs of society 80 years ago might not be suitable for one of today. Especially today, the biggest concern of literacy has been solved. But unfortunately electoral systems are quite frankly, super rigid, something you almost cannot change once you establish one.
This piece of Information I shared with you is why I wish people and experts should explore sortition. Electoral systems aren’t flawless, and especially in current form they’re really flawed.
Edit: also regarding people in power, yes while they cannot piss of a majority, they can easily scapegoat a minority
That is not actually true. In the US most people hate the guts of most politicians and yet those politicians stay in power because their electorate hates their opponents more.