Good Morning, Juho re: "... not having parties or other groupings may also cause problems to the voters since they have hard time finding out what each individual candidate stands for."
The purpose of Active Democracy is to guarantee that individual candidates are required to explain their positions to the most critical audience possible ... other candidates. re: "Some small parties could get together under a common umbrella organization." That is exactly how the major party system works in the U. S., right now. Fringe groups align themselves with major parties to influence the party's platform. The down side is exactly what you described in an earlier message: The large devour the small. A small group can insist that the party install one of their number in a position of power, but the effectiveness of that approach depends on (at least) two things: (1) whether the small group is large enough to adversely affect the party if the party refuses, and (2) whether the party strategists feel the small group's representative will enhance the party's prospects. Since few of the smaller groups have enough strength to influence the party, the party usually pays lip service to the small group's adherents while ignoring their interest. From the small group's perspective, this is beneficial because the lip service publicizes their position and provides a rallying point for adherents ... "much ado about nothing". re: "Having no parties may be impossible." It is impossible. Partisanship is natural for humans. We seek out and align ourselves with others who share our views. Through them, we hone our ideas and gain courage from the knowledge that we are not alone in our beliefs. Partisanship gives breadth, depth and volume to our voice. In and of itself, partisanship is not only inevitable, it is healthy. The fault lies, not in partisanship but in allowing partisans to control government. Fred ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
