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Where The NZ Could Teach The US A Thing Or Two
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro
Jan 27, 2024, 6:21:37 PM1/27/24
to
One of many, many discussions
<https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/1/26/can-the-us-ever-break-the-two-party-binary>
about how to break the undemocratic dysfunction that is strangling the
US electoral system.
It seems people are terrified about proportional representation.
Remember all the scaremongering here in NZ about the “instability” it
would cause? If you think the US system is somehow resistant to such
“instability”, just remember
... with 10 government shutdowns occurring in the US since 1981
and several more narrowly avoided, the threat of government
grinding to a halt already exists ...
... something which has never happened in NZ, after close to 30 years
of MMP.
The US has experimented with this sort of thing in the past. It was
sad to read this part:
For example, in the first half of the 20th century a number of
cities used single transferable vote (STV), a version of ranked
choice voting with multi-member districts that is specifically
aimed at ensuring proportional representation. The method was
discontinued largely because of hostility to racial and ethnic
minorities benefitting from the system, a concern that has
hopefully lessened across the US since then.
On the bright side, Alaska and Maine have adopted ranked-choice
voting. In the last election for their representative to the U.S.
House, Alaska chose Mary Peltola over Sarah Palin. Republicans of
course complained that the election method was somehow biased against
them, when the simple fact was that just about nobody who didn’t want
Sarah Palin as their first choice wanted her as their second one
either.
<https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/1/26/can-the-us-ever-break-the-two-party-binary>
about how to break the undemocratic dysfunction that is strangling the
US electoral system.
It seems people are terrified about proportional representation.
Remember all the scaremongering here in NZ about the “instability” it
would cause? If you think the US system is somehow resistant to such
“instability”, just remember
... with 10 government shutdowns occurring in the US since 1981
and several more narrowly avoided, the threat of government
grinding to a halt already exists ...
... something which has never happened in NZ, after close to 30 years
of MMP.
The US has experimented with this sort of thing in the past. It was
sad to read this part:
For example, in the first half of the 20th century a number of
cities used single transferable vote (STV), a version of ranked
choice voting with multi-member districts that is specifically
aimed at ensuring proportional representation. The method was
discontinued largely because of hostility to racial and ethnic
minorities benefitting from the system, a concern that has
hopefully lessened across the US since then.
On the bright side, Alaska and Maine have adopted ranked-choice
voting. In the last election for their representative to the U.S.
House, Alaska chose Mary Peltola over Sarah Palin. Republicans of
course complained that the election method was somehow biased against
them, when the simple fact was that just about nobody who didn’t want
Sarah Palin as their first choice wanted her as their second one
either.
Crash
Jan 28, 2024, 12:14:21 AM1/28/24
to
contention that they could learn from us in how to reform their
political system into something fairer, but they are so consumed with
the notion that the USA is the best in the world at everything that
they will never consider they can learn anything from another country,
let alone one as insignificant as us. This is one of the reasons I
turned down the opportunity to become a permanent USA resident by
being sponsored for a green card.
It is worth remembering that if they scaled their numbers (based on
population) in the US House of Representatives to the NZ House of
Representatives, they would have 1200 in their HOR (vs the 435 they
have now). Their system is plagued by having 50 States with their own
independent legislatures (where we have none) each of which asserts
their own sovereignty.
--
Crash McBash
Lawrence D'Oliveiro
Jan 28, 2024, 12:19:43 AM1/28/24
to
On Sun, 28 Jan 2024 18:14:21 +1300, Crash wrote:
> Their system is plagued by having 50 States with their own
> independent legislatures (where we have none) each of which asserts
> their own sovereignty.
That needn’t be an obstacle. Remember we copied our system from Germany
> Their system is plagued by having 50 States with their own
> independent legislatures (where we have none) each of which asserts
> their own sovereignty.
which, like the US, is also a federation.
Willy Nilly
Jan 28, 2024, 2:45:02 AM1/28/24
to
On Sun, 28 Jan 2024, Crash <nog...@dontbother.invalid> wrote:
>Their system is plagued by having 50 States with their own
> independent legislatures (where we have none) each of which
> asserts their own sovereignty.
Wow, you are misunderstanding the USA constitution majorly. The
>Their system is plagued by having 50 States with their own
> independent legislatures (where we have none) each of which
> asserts their own sovereignty.
states are meant to be the substantive authorities, see the 10th
amendment, which says that anything not specifically dealt with is in
the states' domain.
That original constitution has since been compromised by some very bad
amendments -- notably federal income tax -- but what plagues the USA
system nowadays is terrible executive leadership, in particular Obama
& Biden. The present showdown over the southern border is an attempt
by 26 governors to stop the current lawless president.
Some governors have now termed "Europeization" as a possible
consequence of Biden's terrible policies. It's a good word -- the
media doesn't understand it -- it means 50 nations in place of 1,
that's how bad Biden is.
Lawrence D'Oliveiro
Jan 28, 2024, 3:04:44 AM1/28/24
to
On Sun, 28 Jan 2024 07:45:10 GMT, Willy Nilly wrote:
> The present showdown over the southern border is an attempt by 26
> governors to stop the current lawless president.
Didn’t some former clown-in-chief promise to build a wall?
> The present showdown over the southern border is an attempt by 26
> governors to stop the current lawless president.
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