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Proportional Representation: Systems
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British Columbia had voted on proportional representation a few years ago, but the British Columbia referendum required 60% for Proportional Representation to win. It failed in British Columbia because it only got 58%. But in Ontario, proportional representation (choice #2) will win if it outpolls choice #1, the existing system. UPDATE: thanks to the individuals who corrected this statement. The Ontario vote ... requires a 60% vote.
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Proportional representation has it’s place - but that place is not within the House of Commons. If you wanted to introduce PR to the British political system, the entire thing would have be redrawn, wiping away everything that has existed before and replacing it all anew - which would be an absurdity.
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There is no single blueprint for how to implement proportional representation. Some forms of PR are based on voting for candidates, some are based on voting for political parties. Many combine both features. Germany's mixed- member PR system guarantees geographic representation, as half of seats are elected from US-style one-seat districts and half in the multi-seat districts that are necessary for PR. Germany ... sets a five percent threshold for parties to win representation, avoiding small splinter parties. The Finns vote for individual candidates in small multi-seat districts, with parties winning seats in proportion to the total for each party's slate of candidates and a party's share of seats being filled by its most popular candidates. The Irish parliament, Australian senate and non-partisan city council in Cambridge (MA) are elected by preference voting, which is based on voting for candidates rather than parties.
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Many international organizations and prominent political scientists support proportional representation (PR) as the fairest and most viable electoral system for nations undergoing a transition to democracy. But is proportional representation truly more democratic than an American-style system? How do the perceived advantages of PR match up against the challenges nations in transition face—especially emerging democracies and ethnically divided societies? Does PR enhance institutional stability and effective governance, or does it sow the seeds for future discord?
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Local proportional representation is a voting system where voters are given a list of candidates for their riding and they vote for their favorite, as in plurality voting. All groups which receive as many votes as the average riding has voters, get seats. The seats are allocated by giving all those groups except the most popular group, seats according to their share of the popular vote for all those groups rounded down. The most popular group gets the remaining seats.
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If the 1997 election had been tallied under a system of proportional representation, the Liberals would have formed a minority government. The PCs would have had nearly three times the seats in the House of Commons. The NDP would have had a few extra seats as well. The Reformers/Alliance would likely not have gained or lost a seat.
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