The wonk’s antidote
I was, once upon a time, a fan of FPTP. Strong government, our history – all that jazz. My scepticism has grown as of late, however. This doesn’t mean that I’ve become a sold-up, proportional representation (PR)-supporting pinko; it’s just that I suspect the electoral system might make less difference than the boffins of political science might like to imagine.
The erudite Taz argues above that FPTP is the system we of a conservative bent should gather round. He describes foolish political decisions undertaken amid the context of PR’s overpowering of smaller, often bat-faeces crazy parties.
The Grünen – the dastardly Greens of Germany – were lent influence through PR far in excess of the proportion of their seats in the Bundestag. Subsequently, they pushed for artificially short limits on the lifespan of Deutschland’s nuclear power stations and the banning of the construction of future ones. Given the vantage point of 2024 …
The rest of this article features in our August 2024 print issue, available to subscribers.
