Rod Engelsman wrote:
I think winner take all systems are hugely unfair and undemocratic.
It depends on how much "all" there is to take. If the prize is a single seat
(a representative, for example) then winner-take-all is inevitable.
Well, yes. But you know that I'm talking about the Electoral College.
Having a single guy take all the points from Florida because he got
50.001% of the popular vote is not fair.
On a larger scale, our overall system of governance always was a
compromise to hammer out a union among a number of inherently unequal
states.
And that's all fine and good, but the Electoral College does nothing to
further this goal. For example, maybe you want to give extra weight to
small states so they don't get overrun by the big states. A winner take
all system does nothing for that. The only reason why the current system
gives more weight to small states is because small states get more
delegates per-capita. But you can get that without a winner take all
system (e.g. like the Democrat primaries).
IIRC, Europe
had every bit as much trouble putting together a confederate system for the
EU, with similar results.
But notice that Europe does not have a winner-take-all system. Except
for when there is only one delegate to choose (e.g. country presidents).
Our real undemocratic institutions are the Senate (2 seats per state,
regardless of size or population) and by extension, the Electoral College.
The European Council of Ministers is one minister per country. So it has
the same problem as the US Senate. This wouldn't be bad if the EU
Parliament had more power. You could argue there are benefits to having
two bodies, one that follows population and one that gives equal weight
to everyone, who have to get along with each other and compromise.
But as originally designed our Federal government was envisioned to be about
as relevant to your daily life as the U.N. is to your life today -- i.e.,
hardly at all. So absolute, per-person, democracy wasn't as important a
consideration as just getting the thing done.
Indeed. If the Federal government was also as small as the founders
intended, then the system wouldn't be a problem.
Daniel.
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