Tamir makes some excellent points about the problem of proportional
representation driving out non-party-aligned candidates. I think that
there are at least three more reasons to be opposed to PR:
1. In Minneapolis, people who live together tend to have the same
concerns, so representing them regionally makes sense. People who
live near Calhoun Square care about parking; people who live near
the lakes want them to stay nice. Other people have different
issues. People in some parts of the city are going to be
front-and-center worried about crime. Others are more likely to
be harmed by automobiles and think traffic enforcement is more
important, etc.
2. [I'm not so sure I know how I feel about this one] Proportional
representation, like at-large elections, favors people who turn
out for elections, over those who sit at home. Some people have
fussed about this in connection with at-large elections. On the
one hand, I think that this leaves some people unrepresented. On
the other hand, if you're just sitting home and watching TV,
you're gonna be unrepresented anyway --- you'll just have someone
who is labeled as your representative, but since they have no way
of knowing what you want them to do, how does this benefit you?
3. Proportional representation leads to gridlock, grotesque
allocations of pork, etc. No doubt this will be controversial.
However, I encourage you to consider, for example, politics in
Israel, where religious nutters get vast quantities of national
dollars, and paralyze vital policy issues, because they can make
or break coalitions. No thank you! The more I see of many-party
democracy, the more I think two-party isn't so bad... I wouldn't
mind seeing a couple of additional parties pop up with some
representation, but if we're going to end up with 10 or 12, I'd
rather have 2.
Cheers,
R
--
Robert P. Goldman
ECCO
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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