25 marker Normative question (electoral reform)

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25 marker, should proportional representation be introduced in the house of commons

Advantages

  • Regional Party List- it's the only potentially pure system of proportional representation, therefore fair to all parties, the system tends to encourage unity buy encouraging electors to identify with a region rather than with a constituency, the system gives more of an opportunity for women and minority groups to get elected provided that they feature on the party list
  • Additional Members System- the mixed characters of this system balances the need for constituency representation over the need for electoral fairness, although the system is broadly representational it still keeps the possibility of a single party government, it gives the voter more choices, they can vote for multiple parties in their constituency and list elections
  • Single Transferable vote- the system is able of achieving a highly proportional outcome, the competition among candidates from the parties means that they can be judged on their individual records and personal strengths, the availability of multiple constituents gives you the choice of who to give your grievances to

Disadvantages

  • The problem of given the voter a choice of many smaller parties can weaken the government that does eventually get into power, the link between representatives and constituencies is weakened and may be broken altogether, parties become more powerful as they decide where they are placed on the party list .
  • the retention of single-member constituencies reduces the likelihood of high levels of proportionality, the system creates confusion by having two classes of representative, constituency representation will be weaker than FPTP due to the larger size of constituencies and because the proportion of representatives have no constituency duties.
  • the proportional representation can vary due to the party system, a strong and stable single-member government is unlikely, multimember constituencies may be divisive because they encourage competition amongst members of the same party.

Evaluation

In conclusion I believe the FPTP isn't representational but it works well with our system and changing it may cause more problems than it solves by confusing voters and producing weaker governments and constituency links. 

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