Many European parliaments are elected in manner similar to that which Dean
Zimmerman describes. Having lived in Germany, I am somewhat familiar with their
system. While there are two fairly large parties in the German system (CDU and
SPD), there are a few medium sized parties (FDP & Greens) and several smaller
parties such as Communists, Socialists, etc . Citizens receive more than one
vote, and can choose to "bullet vote" their party, or split their vote among
parties of their liking. The system is that the party nominates candidates, and
the vote is then for the party, not the individual. Any party that receives a
minimum of 5% of the vote will receive seats in the parliament, which are
distributed based on the percentage of the vote each party receives. The
government also provides campaign funding based on the number of votes the
parties receive - at the time I was there is was DM5/vote (about $2.25 per
vote), and each party receives equal amounts of air time on television to make
their case. Generally none of the parties achieve absolute majority, so they
must form coalitions with smaller parties, which helps the smaller parties
achieve a level of effectiveness. The Austrian system approximates the German
system. The Netherlands also has a similar system, except that as a
consitutional monarchy, the Dutch queen Beatrix is empowered to broker the
coalitions and can disband parliament if she deems it necessary (I believe the
only time that has happened was when the Nazis invaded, and the queen set up a
government in exile in the UK).
The idea of at-large council members is awesome! What a wonderful way to ensure
that the various constituencies scattered around the city are represented. This
system would reconize that representation is both geographical and personal in
nature.
David Piehl
Central
"Melendez, Brian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 03/15/2001 05:23:43 AM
To: "'Dean Zimmermann '" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "'Richard McMartin '"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "'Issues Minneapolis '" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
cc: (bcc: Dave G Piehl/USA/Pillsbury)
Subject: RE: [Mpls] Number of council members
About electing members to a representative body in proportion to their
parties' strength in the election, Dean Zimmerman wrote, "I believe the
Parliament of the United Kingdom is elected in just such a way -- correct me
if I am wrong. Perhaps others know of where such a system is in place now
and has a more detailed and specific description of how it works."
The UK Parliament is elected in single-member constituencies by
plurality, as is the US Congress. The system that I know of that is closest
to what Dean describes is the Swedish Riksdag, where each political party
lists its candidates in an order, the voter votes for a political party
rather than an individual candidate, and the candidates are elected off the
parties' lists in the order determined by the parties and the number based
on the votes cast for each party. There is a fairly detailed description of
the system available online at
http://www.agora.stm.it/elections/parliaments.htm.
BRM
Brian Melendez
Ward 3 (St. Anthony West)
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