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Advantages Of First Past The Post

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Within Canadian modern day, democratic society and in the past one of the fundamental rights as a Canadian citizen is the right to vote to have an impact on how the country is run. But can the way voting is done be a major influence on how citizens cast their vote? In short, yes. Canada’s current electoral system is First Past the Post. Many people and government officials agree that Canada is due for a change in electoral systems. This essay will argue that our current system of First Past the Post is the best systems to have in place for Canada today and why it is currently a better option than the alternative systems of Proportion voting and majoritarian systems.

Our current system of First Past the Post works in a simple way that all …show more content…

On the other hand, this can also be looked at as a disadvantage. Because of the way proportional representations is more flexible in how parties get seats in the House, they can lead to the smaller parties, such as the Greens or the Bloc Québécois having quite a few seats in the House. While this might not seem bad, it could then lead to problems and conflicts between the large parties and small parties where consensus man be difficult to achieve. While cutting out strategic voting can be an advantage in proportional representation, strategic voting being when a voter does not vote for their first choice candidate but rather votes for a party that has some or many similar values of their first choice party. Having a small part from the government or gaining a larger number of seats in the House of Commons could lead to issues regarding experience, and in today's 21st century having a government with very little experience would have the ability to greatly harm Canada and perhaps relations with other countries. First Past the Post let's voter have the knowledge that a party that is stable and one with experience will get elected. Even with strategic voting voters who support small parties can make sure that many of their values will be represented in government. If someone wants to vote Green they would then most likely vote Liberal as the Liberals run on a platform with environmental issues as

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It allows them to use tactics such as packing and cracking which can have a tremendous impact on elections. Packing is when politicians draw out district maps for each party based on population. Packing can swing the vote because the population of one party could out weight the population of the minority party within the same district, causing the entire district to swing with the majority. Voters feel that the other tactic, cracking, gives them a disadvantage because the political parties are being spread out between multiple districts which causes one district to have the majority party in multiple areas (King, Elizabeth). When the politicians of the party in power have drawn out the voters’ map, they maintain power over the lines of the map.

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The pros of having a more representative system are strong enough that it is something that Canada needs to adopt if it wants to consider itself a truly democratic, inclusive and fair country. The flaws of the MMP system revolve around the fact that the likelihood of governments having majorities is lower, which creates a higher likelihood of coalitions for more “power” so to speak. The more representative system also allows for people to have more choice in their votes, which leads to shorter lifetimes for most parties as voters have more control with their votes. A party that is run badly is less likely to see another term, this is of course a good thing, but inconsistent governments is brought up as a con against the Mixed-Member Proportional System. The Mixed-Member Proportional system also allows a better foundation for smaller parties to form, parties with more singular focuses have a much higher chance of having seats.

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Proportional representation is the easiest, fairest way not only to eliminate the desire for gerrymandering but also to rein in extremism. If you get 51% of a district's vote, you don't get the entire seat; you get 51% of it. Your opponent, who won 49%, doesn't get nothing; she/he gets 49% of it. That's exactly representative of the people's will. It also means the more people you attract, the more value your legislative vote has.

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The May 17th, 2005 referendum was designed to ask the public if they would like to use the Single Transferable Vote system in British Columbia, or the Single Member Plurality system.  Both systems have pros and cons, but in the end, the referendum results showed interest in the SMP system over the STV system. The STV system has a lot of complicated steps that are hard to follow and understand for people that are not educated in politics.  It also could create tension between the different MLAs that are being elected in the same riding, especially if they have different views on how to improve and develop their riding.  It is most likely similar to the format of a coalition government and how it can involve ideas from different parties and viewpoints.

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The main advantage is that it removes the concentration of power from one individual. This ensures that abuse of power is limited. Giving different individuals from varying parties will also result in the creation of checks and balances in the executive. A lieutenant governor from the Democratic Party will be able to check the activities and the undertakings of a Republican governor thus ensuring that they operate within the confines of the law and the powers of their office. Also, the system allows for the introduction or the enforcement of the manifestos held by both parties, thereby resulting in greater benefits to the population.

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