Proportional representation system is an alternative voting system that Canada should really consider as it would be beneficial. Proportional system is a type of electoral system that produces a representative body which ensures that the voters are represented in the body according to how they voted (“Fair Vote Canada”, n.d). This voting system places more importance on creating an electoral result of votes corresponding with the amount of votes that were awarded in the legislature (“Canada in Comparative Perspective”, 2017, pg. 188). This is different from the First Past the Post voting system, where the candidate with the most votes doesn't always win and isn't always represented properly. According to Johnston (2001), this system presents …show more content…
Schwartz & Rettie (2003) discuss that this system eliminates the ability of voters to seek help from a particular political who had represented them personally. Johnston (2001) states that this type of voting produces a coalition government which means that voters aren’t aware of who is accountable for making the government politices. They vote for the party they want to win but are unaware or who from that party is going to be represented (Johnston, 2001). This can result in the public not agreeing with who is representing the party and there isn't much they can do about it. Some will say that proportional representation produces a stable government, Pepall (n.d) has something different to say about this. Pepall (n.d), discusses that failure of elections under this type of electoral system states that failure to produce decisions often leads to unstable governments and the power can be shifted from the elected representative to state officials. Having state officials making the decisions instead of the elected representative means that the one making decisions wasn't elected by the public (Pepall, n.d). This isn’t the type of outcome that the public expected, what elections should be is whoever wins the majority of the votes …show more content…
We urge you to work with all parties and enact voting rules for a true and modern representative democracy in time for the next election…We are calling on you to design a voting system for Canada in which every ballot delivers equal representation” (Day, n.d). Trudeau sees that theres a problem with the voting system that Canada currently uses and promised to find an alternative voting system that provides a fair election and would be beneficial to Canada. If the Prime Minister agrees there our voting system needs to change then there should be a change made to our electoral system. Canada needs an electoral system that is going to understand the importance of representing the populations votes and who the majority want to win. Proportional Representation creates a fair voting system and ensures that the candidate who wins the most votes is going to win the most seats oppose to the First Past the Post voting system that allows for a party who didn't win the most votes to still take over more of the seats in the House of Commons. This voting system will allow for Canada to have fair electoral elections to ensure that the party that wins was voting by the majority of voters (Johnston, 2001). According to, “Canada in Comparative Perspective” (2017), making sure to distribute the seats proportional to the votes oppose to having seats given to
A proportionate electoral system (otherwise known as proportional representation or PR) grants its voters a voice in their vote. The way that the PR system works is that for every percentage of votes a party receives, they will be granted around the same percentage of seats in parliament. For example, if a party receives 35% of the votes, they would receive 35% of the seats in legislature. This is important for Canada because it gives smaller parties a better chance of retaining a seat. There are many different varieties of PR, due to the fact that at often times, the voting percentages do not evenly translate into the number of seats available (King, 2000). For instance, if a party receive 33.6% of the vote, they can’ receive 33.6% of seats. Because of this, numerous variations of the PR system have been created. The most common...
Should British General Elections be conducted using a system of Proportional Representation? As the results came in for the 2010 election, it became pretty clear that the First Past The Post system had failed to give us a conclusive answer as to which party should be the next to form government and, as a result, we ended up with the first coalition government since the Second World War. The circumstances that lead to the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition made people question whether it was time for Britain to reform its electoral system in time for the next election, and the term “proportional representation” became printed across the media as a way for Britain to gain a fairer voting system with fairer results. As events unfolded The Telegraph reported, just two days after the ballots had closed, that 48% of voters supported the implementation of a Proportional Representation system , which may not seem a great amount but is still a higher percentage than a first party has gained since Labour in 1966. It is also worth noting that even though the First Past the Post system allowed the Liberal Democrats to be part of government for the first time, the party remains a strong supporter of electoral reform to a system of Proportional Representation , as the Liberal Democrats have more to gain from the implementation of this system than any of the other other parties.
Under this system, the MP for each constituency is the one who gained the most votes. Many claim that this wastes votes, and is unfair. For example, in the 2010 General Election, the Conservative Party gained 36% of the vote and gained 47% of the seats in the House of Commons. Simply put, this demonstrates a lack of democracy- with the representatives of the people not being those chosen by the electorate. Yet, it can also be argued that FPTP is a healthy aspect of the UK system, as it ensures that extremist parties are unlikely to gain power, and it tends to create strong, majority governments.
Even though there was a difference of a quarter million popular votes, the same number of votes were provided. Thus, this system discriminates against people who live in states with high turnout. Rather than having statewide electoral vote distribution, vote distribution in congressional districts could be a little more effective in representing people’s will. Upon this defectiveness of electoral system, current system is failure the way it mislead results and misrepresent population.
However, the proposed systems must be thoroughly examined for their compatibility with Canada’s needs and their ability to resolve the issues outlined in this paper. From distortion in representation to Western alienation and to making the voices of minorities heard, the new system must also ensure that Parliament fulfills its role in representing, legislating, and holding the government. More importantly, after the current government abandoned its promise on electoral reform, it is important for researchers and future governments to build on the knowledge acquired by the Special Committee on Electoral Reform as well as previous experiences of the provinces with electoral
There are Canadian citizens who thought that the Canadian government we have is perfect, citizens who believed that every aspect of the government was truly democratic, and citizens who believe that government could do no wrong. Truly this group of believers has been living a lie. In our Canadian system of government, large aspects within are far from democratic and need to be changed. Liberal-minded people will cry out for a change in order for government to serve the people better, and on the other hand the more conservative thinkers will argue that no change is needed because our government is efficient and considerate. However, our voting system, our Senate, and the power vested to the Prime Minister are far from democratic, do not meet the actual needs of the people and definitely need to be addressed.
The contentious little book titled Women, Power, Politics maintains politics to be devalued, acknowledging the fact that only few people do vote, and women are unable to achieve within the realm of Canadian politics. Sylvia Bashevkin, the author of the book argues that Canadians have a profound unease with women in positions of political authority, what she calls the "women plus power equals discomfort" equation. She evaluates a range of barriers faced by women who enter politics, including the media's biased role of representing the private lives of women in politics, and she wonders why citizens find politics is underrepresented in Canada compared to Belgium. In clear, accessible terms, Bashevkin explains her ideas on how to eliminate “low voters turn-out,” “devaluation of politics,” "gender schemas," and "media framing.” She outlines some compelling solutions to address the stalemate facing women in Canadian politics which are; contesting media portrayals, changing the rule of the game, improving legislative quotas, electoral reform, movement renewals, and so on. This response paper would addresses the reality of a political mainstream, actions which should be taken against the oppressive elements of reality, and the awareness it brings through economic, social, and political environment.
Milner, Henry. First Past the Post? Progress Report on Electoral Reform Initiatives in Canadian Provinces. Ottawa: Institute for Research and Public Policy, 5(9), 2004.
Democracy is defined as government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system (Democracy, n.d.). Canadians generally pride themselves in being able to call this democratic nation home, however is our electoral system reflective of this belief? Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy that has been adopted from the British system. Few amendments have been made since its creation, which has left our modern nation with an archaic system that fails to represent the opinions of citizens. Canada’s current “first-past-the-post” (FPTP) system continues to elect “false majorities” which are not representative of the actual percentage of votes cast. Upon closer examination of the current system, it appears that there are a number of discrepancies between our electoral system and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Other nations provide Canada with excellent examples of electoral systems that more accurately represent the opinions of voters, such as proportional representation. This is a system of voting that allocates seats to a political party based on the percentage of votes cast for that party nationwide. Canada’s current system of voting is undemocratic because it fails to accurately translate the percentage of votes cast to the number of seats won by each party, therefore we should adopt a mixed member proportional representation system to ensure our elections remain democratic.
However, the female participation in politics is a staggeringly low number, thus in the Global Gender Gap report of 2016, it ranked Canada 35 out of 144 countries (Forum,2016). Having Canadian women more involved in politics ensures that different perspectives and opinions are represented where it matters the most, in the government that organizes and creates all the legislations. Policies such as abortion rights should not be determined by men, but by women who can relate to or understand the grounds of the rights. The barriers that women face can easily be diminished with effort. The media can do its part and treat female politicians like they treat their male counterparts, based on their proposed policies and not by what they may be wearing at the time. Families and society itself need to drop the “traditional family” model and realize that modern families share responsibilities so that both parents can strive in their respected careers. Lastly women themselves need to be reminded that if they have the right qualifications, they could go as far as they want, specifically in politics. By becoming a politician, they could still be a good wife and/or mother, but their self-perception needs to be improved by those around them who need to encourage them. Female politicians would be beneficial for everyone in a community, as the standard of who can lead a country changes and people realize that women are capable and qualified as
...d I believe that proportional representation would be the most effective system to further the goals of democracy. If we use the single member plurality system we automatically ignore and exclude the voice of the people who didn’t win the election in a first past the post method. On the other hand in the proportional system rather than all seats being given to the party with the most votes every party gets the seats equal to the amount of votes they were able to obtain. This would allow all the people who voted to have their ‘”voice” represented in the government even though the party they voted for did not end up winning the election. This would encourage and engage many citizens to become involved in the political process; who otherwise would be discourage to vote at the fact that even if they vote, if their party loses their vote would be useless.
First of all, let us start with First Past The Post. FPTP is the current voting system which is used for electing MPs to the House of Commons. Using this voting system voters choose one candidate they wish, by putting a cross in a box next to a candidate’s name. A candidate wins if he or she gets the most votes in the constituency. Plurality voting and Simple majority voting are two other names of FPTP. This voting system is easy to understand and gives voters possible view on which party might win elections. However, Liberal Democrats argue that FPTP has many disadvantages and beneficial only for Labour and Torries. That is why Liberal Democrats proposed an alternative for FPTP, the system named Proportional Representation (PR).
Instead of taking each state vote as one. This reforms divide the votes up by the district and the extra votes would be given to the individual that has the most votes. As stated on the Fair Vote website, “basing electoral vote allocation on congressional districts as well would raise the stakes of redistricting considerably and make gerrymandering even more tempting”. I agree with them. The Congressional District already have enough problems on their hand. We shouldn’t add another one.
...lso speaks of the instances where the system had failed to accurately represent the national popular will’s vote and goes into depth about each instance. Obviously this article is against the Electoral College and it gives many points in support of the anti-electoral college supporters. In conclusion of his article he does mention that this voting system has worked well throughout the years, but believes that it is not necessary because of the reasons that the Electoral College was established is no longer an issue in today’s world. So therefore the voting system is outdated. My use for this article in my research regarding the Electoral College debate will strengthen my argument against the Electoral College. It will be useful because of the in-depth explanations of each instance in which the current voting system failed to represent the national popular will.
Since federalism was introduced as an aspect of Canadian political identity, the country has undergone multiple changes as to how federalism works; in other words, over the decades the federal and provincial governments have not always acted in the same way as they do now. Canada, for example, once experienced quasi-federalism, where the provinces are made subordinate to Ottawa. Currently we are in an era of what has been coined “collaborative federalism”. Essentially, as the title would suggest, it implies that the federal and provincial levels of government work together more closely to enact and make policy changes. Unfortunately, this era of collaborative federalism may be ending sooner rather than later – in the past couple decades, the federal and provincial governments have been known to squabble over any and all policy changes in sectors such as health, the environment and fiscal issues. Generally, one would assume that in a regime employing collaborative federalism there would be a certain amount of collaboration. Lately, it seems as though the only time policy changes can take place the federal government is needed to work unilaterally. One area in which collaborative federalism has been nonexistent and unilateral federalism has prevailed and positively affected policy changes is in the Post-Secondary Education (PSE) sector.