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Would it really be so bad if the BNP gained seats? Legolas Send a noteboard - 26/04/2010 05:03:06 PM
Now, as a classroom exercise, design an electoral system where seats are allocated fairly according to how many votes each party gets, but where extremist parties like the BNP find it very hard to get seats, and where it's actually possible for someone to form a government without ending up with a coalition that nobody voted for. Answers on a postcard to Nick Clegg, who'll give a knighthood to whoever can find a solution.

Obviously what you describe here is an impossibility, with some of your requirements contradicting others. But is it really a necessary requirement that BNP-like parties get no or very few seats? History in continental Europe shows that such parties get less extreme as they get represented in parliament and accountable to their voters, even when they never make it into a government (I oppose the Belgian cordon sanitaire in principle, but wouldn't want to form a coalition with the Vlaams Belang, either). And I can see why you'd have issues with coalition governments, but in most cases, having a government platform that makes compromises between the stances of several of the most popular parties who together have a majority of the popular vote is likely to represent the stances of more voters than having a single party government that represents less than 40% of the popular vote.
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British politics is ... like a basket of crazy muffins. But they taste nice. - 26/04/2010 09:34:57 AM 949 Views
British politics or muffins taste nice? Or both? - 26/04/2010 10:52:35 AM 637 Views
Both - 26/04/2010 05:11:54 PM 794 Views
You are crazy in the head - 26/04/2010 05:20:06 PM 661 Views
Re: You are crazy in the head - 26/04/2010 05:23:00 PM 582 Views
Indeed - 26/04/2010 11:01:30 AM 713 Views
Re: Indeed - 26/04/2010 11:06:10 AM 619 Views
Didn't mean to put the effectively in there - 26/04/2010 11:17:20 AM 570 Views
That makes more sense - 26/04/2010 11:24:33 AM 722 Views
They've been trying to work out exactly what her powers are... - 26/04/2010 01:31:04 PM 800 Views
It is interesting - 26/04/2010 02:13:21 PM 647 Views
Re: Indeed - 26/04/2010 05:14:29 PM 832 Views
Yeah, I follow elections in lots of countries. - 26/04/2010 11:11:28 AM 766 Views
Re: Yeah, I follow elections in lots of countries. - 26/04/2010 05:17:55 PM 694 Views
Re: Yeah, I follow elections in lots of countries. - 26/04/2010 05:56:51 PM 598 Views
My sympathies - 26/04/2010 06:13:25 PM 894 Views
It's all very entertaining. - 26/04/2010 01:46:25 PM 658 Views
Re: It's all very entertaining. - 26/04/2010 05:21:25 PM 775 Views
- 28/04/2010 02:49:51 PM 716 Views
Im assuming youre back in your country now... - 26/04/2010 03:28:53 PM 665 Views
Well, not "my" country, technically, - 26/04/2010 05:22:20 PM 588 Views
It works alright when you have a two- or 2½-party system with support divided geographically. - 26/04/2010 04:40:31 PM 569 Views
Oh, it is easy. - 26/04/2010 04:54:43 PM 741 Views
Would it really be so bad if the BNP gained seats? - 26/04/2010 05:03:06 PM 707 Views
Depends on your definition of "alright", I think. - 26/04/2010 05:26:19 PM 626 Views
I just like hearing them talk *NM* - 26/04/2010 06:25:05 PM 288 Views
So do they. *NM* - 26/04/2010 06:26:00 PM 270 Views
LOL! *NM* - 26/04/2010 06:33:02 PM 349 Views
Big fucking deal. Coalitions of less than 5 parties = LAME *NM* - 28/04/2010 12:03:36 AM 264 Views

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