“If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it.” ― Mark Twain
Reflections on the lie which masquerades as democracy
I’m not especially interested in statistics, and as Benjamin Disraeli has been attributed to saying ‘there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics’ notwithstanding this the western understanding of what constitutes a truly democratic process seems to be a very precarious concept. In raw terms there seems little evidence to support the notion that a majority of any constituents ever receives fair representation by casting a tick or a cross next to a preferred parliamentary candidate once every, 3, 4, or 5 years depending in which western country you happen to reside.
I have dutifully cast my vote, without omission, since 1969. First in the UK and since 1987 in New Zealand, fully aware that people died in their struggles to provide me with this privilege. However, during this time and only with the election of the second Ardern administration has a government been elected that enjoyed a raw 50+% of the enrolled and voting public. On every other occasion governments in both countries, often as is now the case in Britain with huge ‘landslide majorities’, have won the right to represent their respective countries with under 40% of the popular vote. How on earth does this constitute fair representation? The self evident answer is it doesn’t.
Compare these two sets of statistics. One from last night in the UK, the other from our electoral statistics department from the 2023 election. A quick rough tally of ‘others’ last night represents 42% of the UK electorate, whilst in New Zealand that talley is 35%. In both cases ‘others’ beat the so called second major party in to 2nd place and in the case of ‘others’ in the UK both major parties came behind in a percentage preference for MOST VOTERS!!!
Clearly this has been a recipe for injustice regarding a fair representation of voting preferences. In Britain clearly two thirds of the electorate do not believe Keir Starmer has a ‘Carte Blanche’ mandate to do what he wants, and yet that is the bald reality.
In New Zealand our irony has been that under a supposedly more representative system, the elevation of two minor parties to government means less than 20% of the voting electorate was able to call the tune by insisting on the introduction and implementation of some very unpleasant, and certainly non representative, regressive and restrictive practices.
There simply must be a better method of electing to government a ‘preferred’ party, that a majority of the electorate feels ‘most closely’ represents a direction they would like to see the country follow. How hard is that?
ACT and New Zealand First in no stretch of anyone’s belief system represents the directions that the VAST MAJORITY of Kiwis want this country moving towards and yet, here we are.
MMP is just as broken a system as FPP to elect a representative government
If my preferred party cannot be elected why not offer me the opportunity of indicating who I would next rather see form a government than this current charade where I have no opportunity at all.
David Seymour and Winston Peters have been elevated to positions that negatively affects the lives of the majority of Kiwis with no mandate to do so. Under preferential voting Peters would be gone, and Seymour would be the neutered poodle he deserves to be.
PS don’t get me started on America, and the electoral college!
The only reason Seymour and Peters are that power is that Luxon was too weak in negotiations. Rather than push them he rolled over like a Labrador puppy.
an excellent read Mike, and certainly resonates with much of my angst about the power puppies, and you didn't even mention Jones. Such self control Mike.
A friend who would possibly not call himself one now, and who would be labelled a Christo Fascist P2025 type now ................he once said that the most perfect head of state or system is that of having a king, if you have a good one. And I guess it would be one that isn't propped up by a peerage of priviledge, barons, knights et al. I wonder purely out of interest, since we have opened the can of worms, what people think about that.
For me the wonder is how parties have become so diabolically and stoically opposed that they cannot find a common dialectic. For the good of the country. They have to find oppositions antithetical.