canadian politics
In Canada it has become widely accepted that we use a "first past the post" electoral system. This however may not be the best system for a democracy like Canada to use, as there are numerous reasons for such a country to switch to the proportional representation system. A few reasons to make the switch are - better voter turnout, more personal campaigning, better individual representation, and better party selection. While these are all very true, a few other aspects will be focused on in this paper. These issues include - the fact that proportional representation allows smaller parties to have their voices heard, while not allowing for parties with under usually between 2-5% of the popular vote to maintain seats. Also, PR would help Canada better deal with the quite obvious regional differences we experience. While first past the post tends to have an over-representation of regional parties, PR lets Canadians have advocates and legislators with who they agree. The last point that will be focused on is a very important one. It states that PR would help eliminate the need for strategic voting. A proportional representation would let people vote for whom they actually want to. It also gives people a better feeling that th
Our elected officials currently serve a dual role - one as advocate and one as legislator. All elected officials are expected to be advocates for their constituents regardless of their political persuasion. But if you are a Canadian Alliance member you can hardly be represented if your riding elects a New Democrat who votes against every policy you support. Under PR, Canadians are largely guaranteed to have both advocates and legislators with whom they agree. This is another large advantage that very few people are aware of. Proportional representation is almost always acknowledged as the fairest electoral system. Yet some still reject PR for Canada because they fear it would make the government ineffective. They argue that the current method produces stable and effective majority governments out of minority electoral returns, while PR would produce unstable and ineffective minority governments. This implies that Canadians must make an unacceptable choice between the value of effectiveness and the values of justice and equity. Their voices would be better heard, and most definitely would mean significantly more. Although the switch isn't anticipated in the near future, we can hope that it is at least in the heads of many voters, and on the discussion lists on our government.
Some common words found in the essay are:
PR Canadians, , House Commons, PR Canada, PR Canada's, Liberal Party, Post FPTP, House FPTP, Bloc Quebecois, Labour National, electoral system, proportional representation, regional parties, popular vote, pr help, past post, political parties, popular support, proportional representation system, voices heard, win seats, eliminate strategic voting, advocates legislators agree,
Approximate Word count = 1137
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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