Let’s ‘AV a beer!
As I’ve previously mentioned, citizens of the UK will go to the polls tomorrow to decide whether to adopt an Alternative Vote (AV) system, or retain FPTP. As a non-Brit, I’m strongly in favor of voting reform. While I think the benefits of AV are overstated, FPTP is generally a horrible system that only manages to stay around because it institutionalizes itself through the party system it helps create. But don’t take my word for it, here is the best pitch for AV.
Posted on May 4, 2011, in Elections, Electoral Systems and tagged AV, electoral systems, party systems. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Ahwa Talk 
It’s interesting to see (from the previous post that you linked) the ambivalence among Labor partisans relative to more consistent opposition among Tories. One could interpret the Tory position as if Tory partisans had internalized Duverger’s law, and are thus rationally opposing AV to preserve a system in which they are one of two dominant parties. But then again Libs should operate via the same logic (although Tory partisans might say, “well the Libs simply aren’t rational!”) Of course, another motivation that is consistent with the data is that the AV proposition is somehow viewed as a “left” idea and therefore attracts some, but not all, Libs despite their party’s best interest (and tends to keep Tory voters away). Indeed, one might even be able to use these data to sort through the proportions of the electoral that could be considered “rational” versus “ideological” voters…
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