Monday 25 February 2013

Communism is bad for the government

If we are in favour of anarchy then it doesn't matter which voting system we prefer because neither will be used. But if we are in favour of there being a government then it is pertinent whether we choose first-past-the-post or proportional representation. The reason for the significance of this distinction is that with fptp there tends to emerge a two-party system which denies choice to the voter. If we assume that a government without democracy will tend towards communism and we do not like communism then we would seek to ensure this does not happen. If we do not want the government to become a communist government then we would seek to ensure that it is adequately democratically accountable. If there is not enough democracy the government will be a communist government and so (if we do not like communism) we would want to make sure there is enough democracy. The problem with fptp is that it fails to give the voter enough choice which means that we end up with more communism than we would otherwise. With pr there is more choice and so there is less communism. Democracy reduces communism which is why pr is preferable to fptp. Whether we like the government or not there are clearly arguments in favour of making sure the system is sufficiently democratic. (Communism is worse than otherwise even for anarchists.) It is in the interests of the government itself to make sure it doesn't use a system of voting which denies the people a true choice. It is in the interests of the government not to be a communist government.

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