1y ago

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Countries like Canada and the UK manage to have four or five parties with FPTP voting.
And they both are dominated by 2 parties. Hardly a defense of FPTP.
Stop waiting for the perfect voting system, because there is no perfect system.
There may be no perfect system, but there are certainly systems that utterly fail to capture the will of the people, and FPTP (especially the US's implementation of it) is one such system. People aren't going to magically all change their centuries long behavior of voting for 1 of two parties. This is a systematic problem, and the solution is election reform.
- And they both are dominated by 2 parties. Hardly a defense of FPTP.
  Justin Trudeau's current government is a minority government being propped up by a minor party (the NDP). That minor party were able to get the government to pass a Pharmacare bill in exchange for their support.
  With just 24 seats in parliament, the NDP were able to deliver on an election promise to their voters. I'd say that's pretty good.
  
  Justin Trudeau’s current government is a minority government being propped up by a minor party (the NDP). That minor party were able to get the government to pass a Pharmacare bill in exchange for their support.
  "Being propped up by" doesn't change the fact that Trudeau is a member of one of the two main (and dominant) parties within Canada.
  The liberal and conservative parties make up the overwhelming majority of the seats:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_parties_in_Canada
  And the last time they had a 3rd party PM was in 1993, three decades ago:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_Canada
  And the party that appointed that PM died in 2003. The Bloc Québécois, the NDP, and the Green party have never once gotten a PM. You can't point to a system that does that as a success.
  You're also comparing house of commons seats to PM seats, which is a bad comparison because of the scale and difference in location of said elections. A FPTP election in a locality will inherently have easier competition than a national level FPTP election. Often times seats like that go unopposed, or functionally unopposed, or X political party has no chance, which gives a 3rd party a chance. That same effect never happens with a PM sized seat, which is why you never get 3rd party PMs/presidents.
  We need election reform. Even Canada's elections show how terrible FPTP voting is.
  
  You're also comparing house of commons seats to PM seats, which is a bad comparison because of the scale and difference in location of said elections. A FPTP election in a locality will inherently have easier competition than a national level FPTP election.
  There's no such thing as a "PM seat". The Prime Minister occupies a seat in the House of Commons like any other, for which he must win the election in his local riding. Justin Trudeau is the member for Papineau, a neighbourhood in north Montreal.
  The Governor General (representative of the King) then invites one member of parliament to form government as Prime Minister, for which the other members of the parliament must give a vote of confidence. By convention, that person is the leader of the party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons.
  The Prime Minister of Canada is not directly elected in Canada. There is no nation-wide FPTP election for PM.
  
  There’s no such thing as a “PM seat”. The Prime Minister occupies a seat in the House of Commons like any other
  This is unrelevant semantics. You know exactly what I mean when I say the "PM seat".
  The Governor General (representative of the King) then invites one member of parliament to form government as Prime Minister, for which the other members of the parliament must give a vote of confidence. By convention, that person is the leader of the party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons.
  This, I will admit is a misunderstanding on my part. However you do see how this is worse, right?
  Like, not only do 3rd parties not have a chance in Canadian politics to install a PM, but also the general public has less of a say on this than they otherwise could. That is worse. Canada is a terrible example of FPTP working well/being sufficient for 3rd parties.
  
  You know exactly what I mean when I say the "PM seat".
  No, I have no clue.
  In theory, a major party and a minor party can form a coalition, and the leader of the minor party becomes Deputy PM.
  I don't think it's ever happened at the federal level in Canada, though.
  
  You're just side-stepping the core issue at this point by focusing solely on the PM seat thing. Address the rest of what I said.

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