1/ Okay, while the Trump verdict has been very riveting, I'd like to talk about failure states in democracies for a bit.
Any stable democracy needs peaceful transfers of power. If a ruling government loses in an election and thus loses power, they are free to moan about it - but in the end, they should leave office without violence because (unless they screwed up bigly) they realize that they will likely return to power one day. They are invested in the system, and do not want to overthrow the basic democratic order of their country - because it works for them.
Thus, a country needs multiple parties with an investment in democracy, who are willing to form a government - but who are also willing to leave peacefully. If this is not the case, then the democracy in question is in a failure state.
An good (or rather, very very bad) example of a "proportional representation" democracy in a failure state was the late Weimar Republic. Starting in 1932, the NSDAP (Nazis) and the KDP (Communists) received a majority of the vote and thus representatives. Both wanted to overthrow the Republic and its democracy in its own way, and thus it became impossible to form a democratic government - let alone switch between different ones. But the Weimar Republic had problems in this regard even earlier, since there were numerous miniscule parties with only a very small number of candidates. They only cared about a small number of issues, had no motivation to compromise, and thus were not willing to join a working government.
3/ Meanwhile, First Past the Post voting systems - as seen in the #USA and the #UK - massively favor a two-party system. That means that if one of the parties is no longer committed to the democratic order of the nation, its democracy automatically enters a failure state - as there can no longer be a peaceful transfer of power. If there's one party which is willing to overthrow the democratic order of the country when they get into power - as the Nazis did during the Weimar Republic - then they must not attain power, or else it's game over for democracy.
But then the other party - which is (hopefully) still committed to democracy - must not lose power, because then it's game over for democracy. But when one party has to be constantly in power in order to save democracy, then a peaceful transfer of power is no longer possible! Thus, this democracy has entered a failure state. It is inevitable that frustration with a particular government will grow over time, yet this frustration cannot find release because the government must not be voted out of office if democracy is to survive.
Thus, the only way for democracy to survive if the not-democratic party either reforms itself or is displaced by a new party - and the latter is extremely difficult to pull off under a FPtP voting system, since such voting systems massively discourage first parties.
The Labour Party, selecting General Election candidates, should be wary of ignoring the voters of 2019 - 10,295,912 who voted Labour, “for the many, not the few.” The House of Commons arithmetic disguises the fact that more people voted against Conservatives than for them. If the party does not welcome Corbyn or Abbott, how much of a home will it be for the voters it needs? Please don’t throw out the baby with the bath water, the UK needs change! #ukpolitics#labour#KierStarmer#DianeAbbott
@MadeyeTheCarnaptious Democracy is a pretty slippery term, but a voting system which puts the power of elective dictatorship into the hands of a party which doesn’t even achieve a majority of votes cast does nothing but deepen a sense of alienation and distrust. #UK#Election#FPTP
I see Sonia Sodha's laying on the guilt trip in the Guardian. Apparently people are 'foolish' if they choose not to vote for Labour, regardless of whether they're disenchanted, or, presumably, even if they've been kicked out of Labour for being too left wing.
Getting a little bit sick of the hypocrisy now, tbh, and at the same time I envy my friends up in Scotland who benefit from #PR and can vote for the candidate they want - without the constant barrage of BS!
I don't want to be all 'we told you so!' but, ffs, what's going to happen when you stop treating the sewage?
It was bound to get into the fresh water supply eventually, and it has, in at least two regions of Brexit bonus Britain, with more to be confirmed presumably.
Pardonnez mon français, mais fuck the Tories, and #FPTP too!!!
It didn't work everywhere, but is clearly an attempt to frustrate local democracy. But that do you expect from Westminster (and if it is seen to provide an advantage, Labor will retain it).
Ceredigion County Council voted YES to a public consultation on scrapping First Past the Post for their elections and bringing in the fair and proportional Single Transferable Vote (STV).
#Ceredigion follows #Powys and #Gwynedd, who voted for consultations in December. The Single Transferable Vote is a tried and tested system that has been used in Scotland and Northern Ireland for over a decade.
I saw someone saying if the UK had PR 20% of our MPs would be from far right parties. That’s probably correct, but I’d prefer that to the current situation where it’s over 50%
Sir Starmer's "Labour" party has promised to keep with Tory spending policies so every vote for either one of them is a vote for more of what we've had for the last fourteen years.
"The results would be transformative: closing regional inequalities, turbocharging our great cities, creating industries, addressing vital environmental demands and opening up opportunities for millions of our citizens."
I remember reading Will Hutton's "The State We're In" in the run up to the 1997 UK general election. We're still in that poxy state, despite 13 years of Labour government and thanks to the Tory Kleptocracy since 2010.
It's even worse.now.
The curse of #FPTP Buggin's Turn will be set in motion again. There's even less chance (in fact negligible chance) of shaking off this crap with Starmer than there was with Blair.
but a 2 party system is locked in because of #FPTP voting. 3rd parties can never dominate: duverger's law. a 3rd party vote is self-destruction of your own interests
#usa#americans: ranked choice is slowly creeping in, mostly spearheaded by #democrats. so who are you going to #vote for if you want robust 3rd parties?
Heads up UK citizens overseas! The disgraceful ‘15 year rule’ which disenfranchised you is being binned TODAY! From 16 January you can now at long last register to vote, which you should do ASAP in view of in the upcoming general election, because gestures at everything
@ottocrat so for whom would you vote to make things better? As far as I can see there's only the #Greens, and under First Past the Post #FPTP their chances of making a breakthrough are lower than nil.
A mass boycott of the polls may well be the best option.
Of course democracy is disappointing. That's the design. Gently disappointing everyone trying chart a middle course. Leaving everyone not entirely satisfied, because resources are finite & everyone wants different things.
Good #democracy is mildly unsatisfying for everyone. That is the point. The least shitty system we aspire to
Throwing mildly disappointing democracy away, for not being perfect, is insanity.
Democratic void is terrible for nearly everyone, that's it's main feature. #politics
Quite apart from a lifetime of rights stolen, the meaningless damage & looting of the UK, it was the only time I had representative democracy. Under d'Hondt I could vote green and get a green MEP.
Just a reminder that the Electoral College and a Two-Party system are both in place to negate a popular vote and maintain power within a ruling structure of the filthy rich.
America is kind of like two monarchs that trade power every few years.
@bigheadtales
I've been advocating for change for decades, particularly to electoral systems. Not specifically US change as I'm a Brit, but we share a complex version of your 2 party problem, under #FPTP votes for wrong progressive candidate can be extremely harmful to keeping awful candidates out. 35% of the voteshare can give Tories a large MP majority here.
Elections coming for both our countries in 2024 are somewhat unique. I think systemic change has to backseat, until both are safely won
For people unfamiliar with the #FPTP (First Past The Post) system widely used in the UK and the US, it "is formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts, and informally called choose-one voting" [1].
If FPTP votes are 22% for Alice, 20% for Bob, 20% for Carol, 20% for Dennis, 18% for Emily, then Alice wins.
FPTP is an algorithmic obstacle to democratisation.
Just to clarify that it's not up to me to tell the British which parties to vote for (or against). But switching from #FPTP to a more reasonable algorithm should be a condition for the UK to rejoin the EU (and for other states to join).
Mutual understanding while disagreeing, compromise, and creating wide coalitions and participatory, transparent decision-making systems are needed rather than fictional, bureaucratic, corporate "party unity".
If you value your privacy or your freedom, such as remains, we have to destroy the tories. You don't have to vote Liebour to do so. I certainly will never vote for them ever again. Organise. Inform. Educate. Vote tactically. It can be done. It HAS to be done. A message has to be sent that we will no longer accept being viewed as politically illiterate fools with no real grasp on the machinations and corruption in Westminster. This may be our last chance.
Strategic voting only works when you can vote for the least bad candidate. It breaks down when your apparent choice is the least evil candidate. What really works are voting systems where you can vote for your most preferred candidate without fearing that will result in your least favoured candidate being elected. #elections#voting#FPTP#SMP#PR
@Ulzana
I voted Green every EU MEP election and got a representative.
I have had to hold nose and vote tactically for decades in every MP election in UK. Not Green. Usually Labour. Because #FPTP electoral system is wildly undemocratic.