In a representative democracy the people's representatives are expected to do what
the people would do if they were present in person. To attain this ideal requires that
the legislature in its composition embodies the politically relevant diversity that
exists within society, and that the legislature has power to act. These two
requirements are prevalent among significant theories of representation, post-
Charter court rulings, and the commonly accepted expectations of the people
themselves.
Typically, the composition of the BC legislature is not representative; and the
legislature lacks power to act. The Single Member Plurality electoral system
manufactures majorities in the legislature where none exist among the people. Most
voters are not represented in the legislature, and the artificial majorities give cabinet
undue power. When cabinet has too much power, the concept of responsible
government is subverted, MLAs lose their independence, and are beholden to their
political party, instead of their constituents.
Replacing the Single Member Plurality system with the Single Transferable Vote has
the potential to give voters more choice, waste fewer votes, bring greater diversity
into the legislature, lessen party discipline, weaken the power of the Premier and
cabinet, increase the power of the legislature, restore responsible government, render
government more responsive to changing public demands, reconnect government to
the people, and give voters power over their representatives.
Our electoral system is designed to benefit political parties - not people. Therefore,
change will not likely originate with parties and party activists. It must come from
the people themselves, aided perhaps by the courts. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/3645 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Loenen, Nick |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 8436560 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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