> Juho Laatu > Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 8:29 PM > > I think I agree when I say that the first decision (in the > USA) is whether to make the current two-party system work > better or whether to aim at a multi-party system.
Juho Don't you think you might just be starting in the wrong place? Asking the wrong first question? In a representative democracy, surely the first requirement is to ensure that any "representative assembly" (e.g. state or federal legislature or city council) is properly representative of those who vote. If when provided with the means to choose freely among all significant viewpoints, the voters choose to cluster around two parties, then a "two-party system" will properly and fairly represent those voters. In other another jurisdiction, the voters may choose to cluster in significant proportions around three or more parties when one would hope the voting system would be sufficiently sensitive for all the significant clusters to be represented directly. There are real examples from national and sub-national elections where sensitive voting systems, responding to the voters' expressed wishes, elect representatives from several parties, but also example of where, despite the choice of several parties, the voters elect representatives from only two parties. James ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
