Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
I CAN HAZ CROISSANTZ?

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                           

MP's votes weighted by local majority

MPs elected in usual way but their own votes have different weights
  (+7)
(+7)
  [vote for,
against]

The first-past-the-post system currently reigns in the UK because people like the local representation element, while proportional representation systems are complicated for many voters and often requires actually liking more than one party.

By keeping local elections exactly the same, while giving politicians' own votes in Parliament different weights according to the size of your majority would mean the best of both worlds, and no vote is thrown away. MPs with 60% vote share locally might have a vote worth 60 points, while less popular MPs will score lower when it comes to making legislation, with the public never having to change their voting behavior.

TheBamforth, May 27 2019

Reminded me of this : Real-time forest voting real-time_20forest_20voting
A 'rip-and-replace' rather than a patch of the current system [Loris, May 27 2019]

Interactive representation https://en.wikipedi...tive_representation
Proposed ~100 years ago by William U'Ren (direct democracy advocate) in Oregon [determinism89, Nov 04 2020]

1066 And All That https://www.amazon....ellar/dp/0413772705
English history brought to you "by means of fire and the sword". [DrBob, Nov 24 2020]


Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.



Annotation:







       Would this not mean that the least politically diverse constituencies have a disproportionately large say in parliament, by dint only of that lack of diversity?
calum, May 27 2019
  

       some wards have more constituents - this gets complicated.
po, May 27 2019
  

       I think the only fair system is to weight all MPs equally, otherwise some of them might be able to swim back to the surface.
MaxwellBuchanan, May 27 2019
  

       Well, that's more proportional representation! Giving more equal rights to the original voters... However, that then skews the individual representative's voice, so that the individuals that represent have non- uniform weight of speech.
Mindey, May 28 2019
  

       The obvious solution to weighting is just to weigh them, Cyril Smith would have been 7 constituencies all by himself, a net saving on MP's salaries.
not_morrison_rm, May 28 2019
  

       You might need to "elect" (for want of a better word) the top four or five scoring candidates in each ward then & weight each of their votes accordingly to get proper representation for each ward?
Skewed, May 28 2019
  

       //least politically diverse [etc]//   

       That's actually quite fair; if the residents of some region voted about equally for three or four different parties, then whoever they sent to Westminster would not represent most of them anyway.   

       Also, this system would solve the problem of marginal constituencies getting disproportionate attention.   

       "Dear Citizens of [wherever]; when you've made up your mind, as a community, what you want, then we'll listen to what your representative has to say" is not an unreasonable message to send. And if the citizens of [wherever] are not, in practice, a community, this might galvanize them to get together and talk more amongst themselves, until they become a community.
pertinax, May 28 2019
  

       Alternatively, they might polarize into self-defining exclusive groups and set about exterminating all those identified as "other", then set out to impose their narrow, vicious, intolerant world view on their neighbouring constituencies by means of fire and the sword.   

       Sounds good.   

       [MB] is partly right, the best way of weighting elected representatives is to pull on their legs once you've kicked the chair away. Best to be sure.
8th of 7, May 28 2019
  

       Given the vast numbers of idiots in our electorate, I'd want to throw in a weighting of civics comprehension as well somehow.
RayfordSteele, Nov 04 2020
  

       //by means of fire and the sword.//

That's just traditional English politics, as introduced by Julius Caesar (see link).

Which also puts me in mind of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead...
"...we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can't give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They're all blood, you see."
DrBob, Nov 24 2020
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle