I'm not Mike, but here are a few sites. As a preface, it's important to remember that proportional representation (PR) is only applicable to council or legislative-type elections, where you are electing candidates to fill several (or many) seats. The 'proportional' in proportional representation comes in when you allocate these seats in proportion to the size of the various parties or factions. So if the electorate at large is 40% Republican, 55% Democrat, and 5% Green, and you are filling a 100-seat legislative body, then ideally there should be 40 Republicans, 55 Democrats, and 5 Green members elected. A non-proportional system would have 100 single-seat districts. Whether the system used is first-past-the-post, approval voting, instant runoff, or any of the other winner-take-all systems, there is no guarantee of proportionality. In fact if the voting population is 40%-55%-5% across all districts, then the Democrats would win all 100 seats with 55% in each district. Proportional representation is NOT applicable to executive-type elections, where there is only one seat to fill. These are by definition winner-take-all. There are still better alternatives to first-past-the-post in these elections, but here the purpose of seeking an alternative should be to elect a candidate with the most popular support, and to avoid vote-splitting problems which turn third-party candidates into spoilers. Here are some pages containing information on PR and some single-winner systems: http://www.vision25.demon.co.uk/pol/votefaq.txt http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/harrow/124/multi.html For single-winner elections, the method I favor is described here (contains links to a number of other sites, with info on other systems): http://bcn.boulder.co.us/government/approvalvote/center.html Some recent voting system articles: http://www.discover.com/nov_00/gthere.html?article=featbestman.html http://whyfiles.org/shorties/068voting/ Good luck, Bart Ingles
Hey Mike, You know everything, help this lady out of her dis-dress. (Ha Ha) Don - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 23:06:44 -0500 (EST) From: Laila Duggan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: first past the post? Hi, I'm a recent addition to this list, so I'm not sure if this type of inquiry is appropriate. I've got a request. Can anyone suggest a good resource for explaining, in simple terms, our "first-past-the-post" system, and how it differs from proportional representation? I've got the general idea, but I don't understand it enough to explain it to friends. I appreciate any help, Laila Duggan ===== Laila Duggan c/o 875 Sawyers Lane Vancouver BC V5Z 3Z8 "It is the silent acquiescence of millions that supports the system. When you don't oppose the system, your silence becomes approval, for it does nothing to interrupt the system....Many people say it is insane to resist the system, but actually, it is insane not to." --Mumia Abu-Jamal _______________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.ca address at http://mail.yahoo.ca
