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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 929 Views
British politics or muffins taste nice? Or both? - 26/04/2010 10:52:35 AM 620 Views
Both - 26/04/2010 05:11:54 PM 778 Views
You are crazy in the head - 26/04/2010 05:20:06 PM 647 Views
Re: You are crazy in the head - 26/04/2010 05:23:00 PM 566 Views
Indeed - 26/04/2010 11:01:30 AM 697 Views
Re: Indeed - 26/04/2010 11:06:10 AM 601 Views
Didn't mean to put the effectively in there - 26/04/2010 11:17:20 AM 556 Views
That makes more sense - 26/04/2010 11:24:33 AM 709 Views
They've been trying to work out exactly what her powers are... - 26/04/2010 01:31:04 PM 783 Views
It is interesting - 26/04/2010 02:13:21 PM 632 Views
Re: Indeed - 26/04/2010 05:14:29 PM 814 Views
Yeah, I follow elections in lots of countries. - 26/04/2010 11:11:28 AM 744 Views
Re: Yeah, I follow elections in lots of countries. - 26/04/2010 05:17:55 PM 677 Views
Re: Yeah, I follow elections in lots of countries. - 26/04/2010 05:56:51 PM 583 Views
My sympathies - 26/04/2010 06:13:25 PM 880 Views
It's all very entertaining. - 26/04/2010 01:46:25 PM 644 Views
Re: It's all very entertaining. - 26/04/2010 05:21:25 PM 761 Views
- 28/04/2010 02:49:51 PM 703 Views
Im assuming youre back in your country now... - 26/04/2010 03:28:53 PM 648 Views
Well, not "my" country, technically, - 26/04/2010 05:22:20 PM 574 Views
It works alright when you have a two- or 2½-party system with support divided geographically. - 26/04/2010 04:40:31 PM 553 Views
Oh, it is easy. - 26/04/2010 04:54:43 PM 721 Views
Would it really be so bad if the BNP gained seats? - 26/04/2010 05:03:06 PM 693 Views
Depends on your definition of "alright", I think. - 26/04/2010 05:26:19 PM 613 Views
I just like hearing them talk *NM* - 26/04/2010 06:25:05 PM 282 Views
So do they. *NM* - 26/04/2010 06:26:00 PM 261 Views
LOL! *NM* - 26/04/2010 06:33:02 PM 342 Views
Big fucking deal. Coalitions of less than 5 parties = LAME *NM* - 28/04/2010 12:03:36 AM 255 Views

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