Re: Proportional Representation
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Its hard to say its better or worse, but I am happy with the US direct representation system.
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This is a judgement call, of course, however I think the declining rate of voter participation in North America is a signal that neither of the two core parties represent the interests of a fairly large number of people.
I understand the points about the "small" special interest groups and how it can be counterproductive to have such groups cancel each other out with one vote each (for example). But what about parties with broader appeal, that can capture say 10% of the overall vote but still end up with NO voting power in the elected government? This doesn't make sense to me and I think you can make a case that such parties would get even more votes if people didn't perceive them to be "wasted". And by wasted, I include the case of a run-off type vote where these votes default to one of the main parties eventually. If I don't want to support EITHER of the main parties, the run-off doesn't help me.
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