'It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited,' said the March Hare. 'I didn't know it was your table,' said Alice, 'it's laid for a great many more than three.'
This is less likely to happen when one uses a mix of winner-take-all and winner-doesn't-take-all election rules. The initial intent behind the "vice-president" office was to make the presidential election a winner-doesn't-take-all election.
Wise words, but...I believe there have been a caseload of studies show casing any democratic system with a large enough population will always have political parties, formally or informally. Minnesota tried to abolish partisan designations for state legislators, and the state legislators themselves simply created their own parties within the legislature (the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party I believe they were called). After many decades, the voters said, “Look, we know you legislators have parties inside the legislature; isn’t time these parties came out in the open?” So the state constitution was amended, with popular approval, to bring back partisan elections.
Of course, Independent lawmakers and otherwise office holders are very important, just don't hold your breathe for an "independent majority" in any legislative body.
Allegory of the Cave: 'many cities nowadays are governed by men who fight with one another over shadows and form factions for the sake of ruling, as though it were some great good.'
4 comments:
This is less likely to happen when one uses a mix of winner-take-all and winner-doesn't-take-all election rules. The initial intent behind the "vice-president" office was to make the presidential election a winner-doesn't-take-all election.
dlw
Wise words, but...I believe there have been a caseload of studies show casing any democratic system with a large enough population will always have political parties, formally or informally. Minnesota tried to abolish partisan designations for state legislators, and the state legislators themselves simply created their own parties within the legislature (the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party I believe they were called). After many decades, the voters said, “Look, we know you legislators have parties inside the legislature; isn’t time these parties came out in the open?” So the state constitution was amended, with popular approval, to bring back partisan elections.
Of course, Independent lawmakers and otherwise office holders are very important, just don't hold your breathe for an "independent majority" in any legislative body.
Collective action is inevitable and power always tends to corrupt...
dlw
LOVE the picture of our first independent president AND the quote. Right on!
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