« The strangest of coalitions? | Main | Tom Watson challenge update »
October 16, 2006
Myth 8: Proportional representation creates discord within political parties
There is a thin line between healthy competition and a basis for intra-party bickering, yet as far as the voters are concerned, competition to help them out and thus win their votes is almost certainly a good thing.
Furthermore, even where members of the same party are competing against each other, it still does them good to work together—the majority of votes are cast on party lines, and a party that appears disunited is not terribly attractive to voters. Depending on how the party depends to play it, all its candidates can still get elected together.
The most important point is that parties are coalitions, the people in them have different views on different topics. STV shows these views to the electorate and gives them the chance to show which they prefer.
Posted by pauldavies on October 16, 2006
