Parliament
One member asked what form of Government we had. Made me really realise how little is known of New Zealand and even had me wondering if we are thought of as a backward little country down there off Australia. No disrespect meant towards the asker. Actually that comment is a little unfair of me because when back in New Zealand or Australia if anyone had asked me what form of Government did Canada have, while I would have guessed correctly I would not have really known.
Well anyway I should answer the question asked. We have the Westminster System which is the same as Canada and in fact the UK. It was an education for me when I walked into the Parliament here in Ottawa and find that except for it being a much larger scale I was looking at an absolute mirror of what I had looked at back at home. I realised that it was the same as pictures I had seen of Parliament in the UK. They were the same seating layout and the same colourings so all were basically the same Government system.
When I am talking here about Parliament it has me thinking about different facets of Governing, I know from here I will probably ruffle some feathers but I think it will start some thinking and perhaps some interesting dialogue.
I think first about compulsory or by choice voting. I personally am in favour of the non compulsory system. I think that when voting is compulsory there are a number of people who have no knowledge of politics or the people standing or what the people standing are proposing and make votes that they do not really even know what they are doing. They are just filling in boxes because they have to. It is reasonable to assume that these non real votes could perhaps have an effect on a result
Then there is the "Preferential" system which I do not fully understand but from what I do know I can not agree with.at all. This is based on the following.. I can vote for Tom Smith who I definitely wish to be elected but when he is not elected the votes go to Bill Jackson who he has allocated as his preference. It happens that I have no love or respect or desire for Bill Jackson to be elected but my vote has found its way to him. Don't like this.
Recent Comments
14
You are on a roll now Neil, compulsory voting is silly I agree, but "Preferential" voting is far superior in my humble opinion. With the "first past the post" system it is theoretically possible for a political party to have 49% of the vote and no seats in Parliament in a two party system. This cannot be right or fair, and leads to many people being unrepresented, and anyway the "better" system is very simple. Also Neil in your example Bill Jackson will never get your vote if you don't put a number in front of his name.
Enjoyed the blog.
in the "first past the post" system, if any one party got 49% of the vote in a contest with more than just 2 parties, that party has won a clear majority,
the remaining 51% is divided amongst all other contenders
that much popular vote will result in seats in parliament, in a 2 party system it can result in "all or nothing" situation
all the best,
Fascinating observations!
I will play with another facet of the electoral system here in Canada, and that is commonly called "First Past the Post".
What that means is that we have a multi-party system, so there are often several candidates nominated for election to each seat.
The candidate who is declared elected is the candidate who has more votes cast for them than any other candidate. Even 1 more vote is enough (hence the term "first past the post".
There is a movement towards a 2 party system similar to the American Republic.
To me, that is an unhealthy system because nothing in this world is as simple black/white, yes/no, for/against.
just my thoughts,
I like what you say. Something else I have often thought. I know that there can be no "Perfect" system. Party elected is the party with the necessary number of seats Right? What about if those winning seats were all small electorates giving population lets say 50.000. Now lets take the losing number of seats were all huge electorates giving population of 90.000. Most people voted for losing party.
the electoral boundaries are adjusted after every census, so that the population of each riding is within a given range of each other
what that does create is some massively large rural riding (geographically) but the population in that riding is in similar range to much smaller (geographically) urban riding
the party declared elected is the party with the greatest number of elected members.
this can result in a minority government which has to find ways to negotiate with other opposition parties to insure legislation gets through parliament,
it can also result in a majority government which can in theory do as it pleases, but thankfully the beaurocratics do keep a "governing" hand on the government of the day
great conversation!
See more comments
The only thing I wish was better here in the US was better handle on fraud. I do believe in voter I'd requirements for all voters.
Fair comment. Am i right that it is compulsory there
No not in all states. It was very controversial I thus last mid term election with many liberals thinking it was racist to require IDs to vote.
Thanks for that I am learning too