A mainstream party can get hijacked by extremists and govern with a minority vote share under first-past-the-post. The threshold for far-right politics under our electoral system is much lower.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And under an fptp system, that party is entirely responsible for their actions under said extremist hijacking and can thus be punished at the ballot booth accordingly.

Again, there is not really an equivalent mechanism under PR. Who is to blame for any particular decision in a 4 way coalition?

[–] Sunshine@piefed.ca 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

thus be punished at the ballot booth accordingly.

Not when FPTP has unpredictable results and could actually end up rewarding the questionable party with more seats even if the public reduced their ballot support.

Governments should be elected on the will of the majority not minority.

Again, there is not really an equivalent mechanism under PR. Who is to blame for any particular decision in a 4 way coalition?

People can see who pushed for certain parts of an agreement then not vote for them again extinguishing their political power. That’s why we have journalists investigating the inner-workings of parliament.

A proportional system reflects the views of the people much sooner than first-past-the-post.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca -2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

People can see who pushed for certain parts of an agreement then not vote for them again extinguishing their political power. That’s why we have journalists investigating the inner-workings of parliament.

That's not at all how politics or investigative journalism work? Those would be closed door negotiations. If you read news from PR systems (DW, any reporting from Israel) you'll learn that while parties broadcast their broad positions, the specific horse trading is quite secretive.

actually end up rewarding the questionable party with more seats even if the public reduced their ballot support

As also happens in PR. Say last election happened under a PR system with the Conservatives and Bloc being thr party with thr most seats and a partner to push them into majority territory. You'd then have what I presume you'd categorize as an extremist party combined with a purely regional party making decisions for everyone.

This is why Netanyahu, despite being wildly unpopular, still has a pretty good chance of winning elections; small dogmatic parties can combine with several moderately popular ones to control a country. It's a horrifying situation with zero accountability, whereas we know exactly whom to blame and punish accordingly.

Edit: I suppose Sunshine blocked me as I can't respond. For what it's worth, you can't just change the meaning of accountability and democracy to suit your preferences. It's weird.

[–] Sunshine@piefed.ca 1 points 1 month ago

You do not have any accountability with a political party who has a minority of vote winning most of the seats. Stop being anti-democratic.