Next years referendum will be the first poll i can take part in as i will (finally) be 18. However for me this is a complex issue, do i vote yes or no in a referendum to change from a voting system i despise to one which in my opinion is little better. I also have to contend with the fact that its not the Labour or Liberal Democrat party proposing this but a coalition which as any reader of my last post will know i also find fairly distasteful ( am i bitter enough that we have a Tory government propped up by a supposed progressive party, to vote against it solely on the ground that if defeated it could throw the coalition into chaos ) which means that in supporting it id be supporting the government (or part of the government). The issue must be broken down then into the two separate arguments, Yes or No.
The first thing that must be pointed out is that First past the post (FPTP) does not work as a system, it has a trend of grossly over representing the winning party and killing off the smaller parties, in a genuine two party state such as America this isn't such a problem but in Britain the situation is more complex, in what fair world can the liberal democrats receive a quarter of the votes and only a tenth of the seats, the Liberal Democrats clearly have the most to gain from any electoral change because any change cant lead to such an unfair circumstance as they have now. However its also important to note that while A.V may be more democratic, a true proportional system (something which A.V certainly is not) would yield a much fairer result but that is not on offer and we must also take into account the plight of smaller parties such as the TUSC, Greens , UKIP and the BNP (though i may detest the BNP and UKIP they too have a right to representation if fairly elected) who could benefit from a switch to A.V as people may feel more comfortable to vote for the party they genuinly support rather then tactically voting for another party, as they could use there second vote as there tactical option and use there primary vote for the party they actually believed in. Another convincing factor is that this could potentially open up the flood gates to reform. This was the case in 1997 when the Labour party was elected and passed a great deal of reform , including human rights , freedom of information , devolution, constitutional reform act and gay rights. It could be hoped that the passing of A.V could lead to some grand cascade of reform and that it would increase pressure for the powers that be to finally grant us some kind of proportinal system ( AMS my preffered option ).
The truth however, in my opinion at least, is that the best thing for the country is the defeat of this referendum, with David Cameron opposing it (and this is probably the only time ive ever agreed with anything that David Cameron says) and the liberal democrats supporting it this is an issue which means that its failure could lead to a collapse of the govenment , while normally this isnt something id support id rather see a government which is bound by similar goals, similar manifestos and similar ideals, with an electorate aware that a possibility would be a government between a progressive and regressive party , something that seemed impossible before may 6th. But there is a larger , overarching issue surrounding this refferendum. Labour promised electoral reform when they came to power in 1997 and the jenkins commission set up suggested the U.K switch to AMS in light of its success in scotland, but with Labours huge majority they felt no need to change. There are historical examples of this as well. The 1832 representation of the peoples act (sometimes known as the great reform act) marginly extended the franchise of the middle class, but many at the time believed this would lead to further reform, however it took over thirty years for the next franchise reform to come about. The reason why ? the ruling elites didnt want to change the system they simply wanted franchise reform that would placate the more influential groups in society and prevent a mass revolt against there rule. Similar, the 1918 representation of the people act after world war two gave all men the vote but this was not equalised with women for another ten years. I personally fear that this may be what is coming, the portrayal that is being given to A.V by the political elite is that it is radical, something bold and new when in actual fact it is a very slight change from the norm. This could be used to placate the moderates, and divide the calls for reform and leave us waiting for another generation. This is why ill be voting against on May 6th. As far as im concerned, we should all take a stance of Proportional Representation or nothing.
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