Here's two lists of selected countries. One group elects their government using a first-past-the-post winner-takes-all system and the other group uses some variation of proportional representation. Which group do you think Canada, the US, and the UK fall into?
Group 1
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Congo, Dominica, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Group 2
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Venezuela.
Yup, our first-past-the-post system puts Canada, along with the UK and US, in Group 1.
We really need to get on this before 2008.
Update. To the person who emailed me to complain that I had cherry-picked the two groups to highlight a black countries vs white countries bias : No, the two groups highlight a generally right vs left bias.
I just got tired of hearing it said that if we have a similar electoral system to the US and UK, we're probably doing alright.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
Blog Archive
-
▼
2006
(286)
-
▼
February
(21)
- Longer David Emerson :
- Diploma mill scam spam
- Electoral system pop quiz
- Trailer Park Boys vs Anne of Green Gables
- Does this poll make my ass look big?
- The Loop Road. Again.
- Uh oh, Toto, NaPo's gone to Kansas
- "Rubbish, noxious, offensive, and unwholesome"
- Nope, this one isn't about Stockwell Day
- Intelligently Designed pillows
- Gun registry - no People registry - yes
- And in cartoon news...
- Happy Valentines Day
- Happy Darwin Day
- SpongeDob comes to Ottawa
- "Superficial criticism"
- David Emerson Campaign quote ...
- Golf course redux
- More big weather
- Good Samaritans all
- How we voted
-
▼
February
(21)
- 404 System Error
- A Creative Revolution
- Accidental Deliberations
- Another Voice
- April Reign
- Back of the Book
- Big City Lib
- Bilateralist
- Birth Pangs
- Blogging Change
- Bowen Island Journal
- Bread and Roses
- Broadsides
- CREEKSIDE - THE SPP POSTS
- Canadian Cynic
- Canadian Progressive Voices
- CathiefromCanada
- Challenging the Commonplace
- Council of Canadians
- Cracked Crystal Ball
- Crawl Across the Ocean
- DAMMIT JANET!
- Dawg's Blawg
- De Koboldorum Rebus
- Dymaxion World
- Harper Valley
- Impolitical
- In-Sights
- Just Another Willy Loman
- Laila Yuile
- Leftist Jab
- Let Freedom Rain
- Liberal Catnip
- Mirabile Dictu
- Montreal Simon
- Moved to Vancouver
- Murray Dobbin
- Northern Insights
- Of Gods & Other Monsters
- Open Parliament
- Orwell's Bastard
- POGGE
- Paying Attention
- Politics 'n Poetry
- Public Eye Online
- Pushed to the Left and Loving It
- Q at North of Center
- Red Tory
- Resettle THIS!
- Rose's Place
- Runesmith's Canadian Content
- Rusty Idols
- Stageleft
- Steve & Sandra Toons
- Terrible Depths
- The Black Ewe
- The Dominion
- The Galloping Beaver
- The Gazetteer
- The Regina Mom
- The Sixth Estate
- The Tyee
- The Woodshed
- TheLedgeTrials
- They Call Me "Mr. Sinister"
- Thinking Aboot
- Thwap's Schoolyard
- Trapped in a Whirlpool
- Unrepentant Old Hippie
- Youngfox Canada
- bastard.logic
- hairy fish nuts
1 comment:
Hi Alison, I wandered over here from your comment at Idealistic Pragmatist's most rcent post, and I love your lists. I will have to save this for when I try to stand on a soapbox of my own upon my return to Canada and see if I can convince Calgarians of the benefits of PR... perhaps I'll be dodging bullets, as well. :-S
Post a Comment