Democracy is an obligation

The government has an obligation to provide fair elections... including proportional elections. For all votes to count equally is a democratic principle which is absent if we do not have pr. The government is not like an ordinary citizen or (legal) entity... it has certain obligations one of which is to be democratic. This is perhaps the main obligation of government... to be (fully) accountable to the people. It is irresponsible for the government not to provide proportional representation. The government is criminal if it is not democratic which includes being elected fairly and via a proportional system.

Proportional representation is liberating

The purpose of democracy is to enable the people to remove unpopular government. But to some degree all government is unpopular by definition and so democracy always reduces the size of the state. Democracy is always liberating which is why proportional representation is preferable. If people have more choice about how the government works there will be less government and certainly less government which helps only government. With pr there is less government and less selfish government. With more choice comes mnore freedom and this applies to (government and) democracy as well as elsewhere.

Freedom relies on democracy

The difference between the government and other legal entities is that the government is above the law... the law does not apply to the government. It is not possible for the government to act illegally since to do so would mean that it is not the government. But it is possible to envisage a world where there is not a government and everyone can obey the same set of laws. There is never a reason for aggression (by definition) and so we do not have a reason for government. To use force defensively to stop crime is always accepted in any arrangement and we do not need a government to fight (and resist) crime. We can also help other people voluntarily without a government. Democracy enables us to reject and resit the (aspirant) government... so the more democracy we have the less government there will be since by definition the government is unwanted. Democracy weakens the state so if we have the full version of democracy (which is proportional representation) this will result in the smallest government in a democracy. First past the post gives people less choice to reject the state and so it will result in a larger state. Democracy is bad for the government which is why pr results in more freedom. Freedom depends on people being able to reject the state which is why democracy enhances freedom. If we can reject the state more easily (as with pr) then we will be more free.

Democracy is good for the poor

Proportional representation is good for the poor because to be able to choose who we are governed by is good. If there is first-past-the-post this can result in a two-party system whereby choice is limited. This is bad because then the politicians can act in their own interests and not those of the voters. Democracy (and government) is good because to have a government prevents crime but we must be able to easily remove our leaders and with fptp this is difficult. It is because the politicians might be bad that pr is preferable to fptp. If to be a politician is to be infallible then there is no problem with fptp because there is no advantage in choice and no advantage in democracy. It is because the politicians are not always good that democracy is good and by extension that pr is good. Pr is good for the same reasons that democracy is good... it enables us to 'flush out' bad politicians from the system periodically. It keeps the politicians motivated and focussed on their work. Without democracy the (members of the) state becomes weary and lazy despite their good intentions. Democracy gives discipline to the state and so for this reason pr is preferable to fptp. The more democratic the state the more uncomfortable are the politicians which is good. Pr is bad for the politicians which is good for the poor. It is too easy for politicians to get elected if the system is not democratic enough. The state fails to serve poor people if it is not sufficiently democratic.

Democracy is good at stopping socialism

The purpose of democracy is to enable the people to be protected from crime... by giving them an objective arrangement of property rights. But if there is first-past-the-post then voters will not be able to vote in a naive manner and they will be reduced to tactical voting. If voters must vote tactically they are not voting for their preferred candidate (by definition) and they are being disenfranchised. Only if we have proportional representation are voters being given the full expression of democracy. If we do not have (full) democracy then it is possible for politicians and the state to exploit this anomaly to their own advantage. If we do not have pr then the politicians can exploit the voters in the name of socialism. Pr is much better than fptp at stopping (unwanted) socialism... whereas they are both able to stop crime in the normal fashion. Proportional representation stops both (unwanted) socialism and crime but fptp is able to prevent only crime... it is not good at stopping socialism. Both systems can stop crime (in the traditional sense of home invasion and personal assault) but only pr is truly capable of stopping harmful socialism.

Democracy is good at stopping crime

The purpose of democracy is to enable the people to have a government and protect themselves from crime. If there is no government (no democracy) there is anarchy and no objective means to prevent crime. We cannot arrest criminals if we do not have an objective means by which we can determine the truth of property claims. So for peace and freedom we require government and a democracy... but if we do not have pr then we will not be able to vote in a naive sense for our preferred candidate. If we must make tactical considerations when we vote we are not voting in a naive fashion as we should be able to do. If we do not have pr then we are not able to vote in a naive fashion and our ability to be represented in government is diminished. It is more difficult to protect our property rights if we do not have pr. The government is more effective and more powerful if we have a fully proportional system. First past the post is a weak system because the people are not represented instead power is given to the political establishment. Fptp is not true democracy is is ownership by (control of the government by) the political establishment. True democracy is proportional which leads to more effective prevention of crime. It is easier (if we are a criminal) to commit a crime if we live in a country with first past the post because the mechanisms by which the state can prevent crime are weakened. It is only with the state that we can stop crime but fptp weakens the state. Fptp does not lead to strong government (since government is democratic) it leads to government by the political establishment and the two main parties... which is not strong government. To get strong (and legitimate) government requires full democracy which is proportional democracy. Only with pr do we have strong government... which is the best means to prevent crime. Strong government is good and fptp prevents it.

Democracy is bad for the government

The purpose of democracy is to enable the people to be protected from the state. Because the state has a monopoly on the law this means that the state can potentially do great harm to the people. Whether this happens via a misallocation of property rights or direct theft the government can do great harm to the people which is why we need democracy. To be in favour of democracy is to be opposed to the state and to seek to place constraints on the power of the state. If we do not like the state we want more democracy. Democracy is good for people who do not like the state. If we do not like the state we like democracy.

First past the post is anarchy

There can be no legitimate government which does not have the consent of the people. And to make sure a legislature has the consent of the people we have elections which give control of the government to the people. But if we do not have proportional elections (and instead have first-past-the-post) then we cannot say that the people have been given a voice. If the government is elected via fptp then it will (eventually) be controlled by a two-party system which is not the full expression of democracy. To have the consent of the governed a government has no choice but to arrange proportional elections. Without pr the government is illegitimate because it does not have the consent of the people. For a government to be legitimate requires the consent of the people and by extension it requires pr. Without pr the government is not legitimate... there is no true government if there is not pr. Only with pr can we say that the government has legitimacy. To be legitimate the government must use pr it cannot use fptp. First past the post is not a legitimate system. There is no legitimate government if there is fptp.

The Tories are not Libertarians since they reject pr

Proportional representation is better for Libertarians because democracy itself is a liberating concept. To be able to choose your leaders is a form of freedom... which fptp constrains. We can deduce from this that the Tories are not a Libertarian party since they support fptp. Since all Libertarians support pr then for the Tories to not support pr shows that they are not Libertarians. The Tories do not support pr so they are not Libertarians.

Libertarians support proportional representation

The state gives people freedom from crime so the state is a liberal and Libertarian concept. And if to have a state requires that we have a democratic state then democracy is a liberal concept. So then it is a contradiction for a Libertarian to reject democracy... and by extension proportional representation. Libertarians support pr because without the state there is no freedom (from crime) and without democracy there is tyranny. Any lack of democracy is tyranny so first-past-the-post is tyranny even though it is not as bad as outright dictatorship. Proportional representation is a Libertarian concept and Libertarians support pr.

There is no reason to reject pr

Good people do not support fptp... many claim to be in support of fptp because it protects the two-party system and as a result this protects freedom. But freedom is not protected by protecting the two-party system unless to protect the government is to protect freedom which is an oxymoron. We do not hear the same arguments being made in favour of communism or outright dictatorship that we might hear for fptp because they are plainly wrong. To claim that a dictatorship is necessary to protect the people from the tyranny of democracy is not a common argument but similar claims are often made for fptp. There is no good reason to support fptp over pr just as there is no good (legitimate) reason to support a dictatorship. There is no reason to have a dictatorship and there is no reason not to have pr other than precedent.

First past the post is not good for the government

Government is impossible because we own ourselves... this is not a matter of opinion but a claim about reality. It is clear that we each have the capacity to choose for ourselves and this includes the ability to choose whether we are governed but to choose government is an oxymoron so there is no government. But if we have a fptp system of voting it becomes difficult for the voters to free themselves of the state as they would do with a proportional system. So fptp creates a government which is bad for the subjects but also bad for the government because to be the government is a bad thing. It is bad to take on the responsibility of looking after people... it is better to look after yourself first and have no obligation to others. Charity is possible but this is not government. It is bad to be the government which is why fptp is a problem not only for the subjects but also for the government. Fptp is bad for the government because it creates a government. There is a government if there is fptp... which is bad for the government.