tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12426618.post113927388865593372..comments2023-08-03T07:33:41.442-07:00Comments on Idealistic Pragmatist: The NDP and the trap of our political cultureIdealistic Pragmatisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18296481430598981678noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12426618.post-1139409348373265892006-02-08T07:35:00.000-07:002006-02-08T07:35:00.000-07:00Greg,The real problem is that we already have a mu...Greg,<BR/><BR/>The real problem is that we already <I>have</I> a multi-party state. Somehow more than two parties have flourished in Canada, despite a system that tries to prohibit that. And when you have more than two parties trying to shoehorn themselves into a system that's designed to force two clear choices, it results in a profound failure of democracy. (I wasn't nearly so adamant about PR when I lived in the U.S., where first-past-the-post results in unfair elections once in a blue moon rather than every single time.)<BR/><BR/>phugebrins,<BR/><BR/>Oh, I do think the NDP's percentage of the vote would increase slightly under a system that didn't encourage so much strategic voting, and I agree that this would result in a slightly increased influence of the left. (I even mention this in the post, in passing.) But a lot of people seem to think PR would mean a constant minority government situation, in which the NDP got to ram their own policies home by threatening to withdraw support for the governing party. In practice, though, PR tends to produce a system that requires a lot more rethinking of policy through compromises between parties, resulting in more moderate--but also more creative--solutions.Idealistic Pragmatisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18296481430598981678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12426618.post-1139406885179519892006-02-08T06:54:00.000-07:002006-02-08T06:54:00.000-07:00I think the idea of PR moving Canadaian politics l...I think the idea of PR moving Canadaian politics left seems not so much to be derived from the idea that PR will move opinion left - rather that the NDP's vote share (not just its seat count) will increase as voters currently in Lib/Con (or BQ/Lib) marginals who prefer the NDP will then actually vote for the NDP. The claim is essentially that voters are already left of centre, but that the system distorts this so that it appears that public opinion is more centrist. <BR/>To come full circle, in the UK, the Liberal Democrats probably had about 30% support last election - but gained only ~21% of the vote. The other 9% or so (i.e. close to 1/3 of their supporters) mostly voted Labour to keep the Tories out.Phugebrinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10851424524869250015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12426618.post-1139351504948871982006-02-07T15:31:00.000-07:002006-02-07T15:31:00.000-07:00I am with you too. We need to foster a multi-party...I am with you too. We need to foster a multi-party state so we are forced to listen rather than dictate.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06509182679650412982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12426618.post-1139275605606046882006-02-06T18:26:00.000-07:002006-02-06T18:26:00.000-07:00I agree with you on this. The NDP is more than a ...I agree with you on this. The NDP is more than a political party, it is also a social movement (and always has been). That would be lost if we ended up with a Dem-Repub system or a Labour-Tory system.Simon Polehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10732536379885911792noreply@blogger.com