| The Future of the U.S. Political System The following are points made during the discussion meeting Opening Remarks and Observations 1. The English political system broke down into two large groups: Conservative and Labor. It divided largely on class or income lines. Religion didn't have much of a factor in dividing the parties into smaller factions. 2. In France, Italy and Germany, there are two factors (religon and income) and so there are four major parties: The lower income/secular party The lower income/Christian party The higher income/secular party The higher income/Christian party No single party could gain a majority in Parliament, so the country has adopted a culture of coalitions. 3. In the U.S. we have seen a growth in the number of choices in virtually every area of our lives. Toothpastes telephone companies religions cereals sexual orientation and gender identity There are essentially two players in U.S. politics and the rest are potential spoilers. (e.g. the Green party in the 2000 national election). 4. the constitution doesn't mention anything specifically about the party system. 5. Israeli multi-party system apparently gives a bad name to a system that gives proportional representation. 6. The US political system is based on Geography. What if additional representatives were allocated by national ideological or political alliance? Central thesis: We know it's coming. We just don't know when. Jack wonders: What would the participating parties be if the Constitution were re-written to give proportional representation to any party that had at least 5% of the national vote? Potential parties Libertarian (2%) fiscal conservatives (20%) greens (5%) Religious Right (20%) Center (40%) Religious Left (3%) Others? If up to 100 additional seats were assigned in Congress on a proportional basis, how would the vote be distributed? Here's one guess: Libertarian 2% > zero seats fiscal conservatives 20% > 20 seats greens 5% > 5 seats Religious Right 20% > 20 seats Center 40% > 40 seats Religious Left 3% > zero seats Socialist (3%) > zero seats Under this system, only 85 seats would be assigned in the U.S. House of Representatives.. Here's your chance for some feedback. (Your comments will appear on the next page) a. What would be the drawbacks of such a proposed system? b. What allegiance would the Proportional Representatives have to their regions? c. What impact would their participation have on legislation? d. Where would independents choose to align their votes? e. Do you have another proposal for incorporating proportional representation in the state level? f. If there is no proportional representation in the U.S. Senate, would anything really change under this proposal? g. How would the proportional represenatatives be selected? By their parties? h. Wouldn't the parties that were already heavily represented simply get more representation? SUMMARY The next Constitutional Convention is not anticipated before 2100.... :-) The meeting closed at 8:40 pm THE TOPIC FOR THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE ------------------ on Thrusday September 27. Click on this line to see the page of questions.... EVOLUTION... If the Proportional representation were adopted in (let's say) 2012, what parties woudl achieve the 5% threshhold? Democrats 42% Republicans 40% Greens 5% Left Progressives 3% Libertarians 3% Religious Right 7% The next emerging party (perhaps in 2016) might be the Left Progressives Party (6%), which might cost the Greens their 5% share... What do you think? Send your replies to [email protected] |
| Newsletter about THE FUTURE OF THE U.S. POLITICAL SYSTEM Notes from a Discussion Meeting on 8-30-2001 |
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