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Hi, Christian Here
If you've been watching this channel for
any length of time, you'll know that I love politics
all that being said, most people think that politics
is an abstract concept that doesn't effect them
when in fact, politics and the people involved
heavily influence our day to day lives
One of the most influential policies that determine how well a government runs
and what they can get away with, is an electoral system.
and that's just what we are going to talk about on
This episode of Video Dose Daily - "Why Your Democracy Sucks"
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This video, will primarily deal with the United States and Canada
Who both use the same way to elect their politicians
First Past The Post
First Past the Post, often Abbreviated F.P.T.P
Or "Winner Takes All"
Is a voting System that requires a citizen to indicate
On a ballot, the candidate of their choice
The system has two main rules:
1. Each Citizen get one and only one vote
2. The candidate with the most votes wins
This deceptively simply system seems perfect
And without Fault, but in fact it has major
flaws that cripple a countries democracy
and creates and unhealthy political climate
that hinders the growth of minor parties
to truly understand how flawed this system is
lets imagine this scenario
Alaska and the norther territories of Canada
are tired of not being fairly represented in their government
and they demand independence
Amazingly, the US and Canada give her, her freedom
and the country of Nordania is born
with the ability to run her own elections
Nordania decides to use First Past the Post
as their voting system
as they believe its the best way to choose a leader
for their newly formed country
Lets take a look at how this would pan out.
In the first Nordanian election
there are seven parties running for office
the candidates are:
The Vegan Party
The Vegetarian Party
The Bread Party
The Salmon Party
The Chicken Party
The Truffle Party
and Bovine Party
The Candidates go to a couple events
kiss a few babies
and cut some ribbons
and when election night comes around - the results are as follows:
The Vegan Party at 7%, the Vegetarian at 15%
Bread at 19%, Salmon at 22%
Chicken Party at 18%, Truffle Party at 13%
and Bovine Party at 6%
In this election, we can see that the Salmon party
has a lead with 22% of the votes
so they are now declared leaders of the country
for one term
Hopefully the pitfalls in this system are obvious
The Salmon Party, with only 22% of the support
from the citizens, are now in charge
and represent everyone, even the 78%
majority that didn't vote for them.
and this could have been a lot worse
imagine if there where ten parties running for office
the Salmon Party, in theory
would only need 11% of the vote to win
The problem with minority rule is just the beginning
the second problem wot first past the post is that
given enough time, it will lead to an unavoidable two party system.
which gives even less representation to its citizens
[Candidate Pruning] - Thin the Herd
The Salmon party have finished their term in office
and again its time to elect a ruling party.
Except this time, people remember the election results
and this is going to change how they vote.
More specifically, the Vegan and Bovine Parties,
who have to face the hard facts that they backed unpopular candidates
who don't have a chance at winning
The Bovine supporters
who where unhappy with Salmon Party rule
are going to vote for Chicken Party
knowing that their votes will help keep the salmon party out of office.
Now, the Vegans want to vote for the Vegetarian Party
which is the candidate they have most in common with.
But they are afraid to. Because the Salmon Party is now running a negative campaign
against her competitors.
Vegans, not liking the idea of Chicken Party rule
vote strategically for Bread Party.
In the next election, the votes are as follows:
Vegetarian Party at 15% , Bread Party at 26%
Salmon Party at 22% , Chicken Party at 24%
and Truffle Party at 13%
The Vegan and Bovine Party, seeing their poor results
and knowing the cost of their campaigns, now drop out of future elections.
What started as a seven party system is now down to five.
Fast forward to next term, and only five candidates run
only, this time its the Vegetarian and Truffle Party
who have to come to terms with the fact that they are facing defeat.
The bread Party, who was the previous winner
Runs a negative campaign to capitalize on the fears of
the voters on the opposite side of the political spectrum.
The Vegetarian and Truffle Supporters,
fearing the parties they disagree with most coming to power
strategically abandon their first choice, to prevent
the other from coming into office.
After this election, the results are as follows:
Bread Party at 41% and the Chicken Party at 37%
The Truffle and Vegetarian Parties
like the others before them, drop out.
In this last election
We are going to look at the Salmon supportes
because they are unhappy.
They really like the party they support but now
have to compromise.
The centrist Salmon supporters split their vote.
Supporting the candidate they like most from the two parties
The end result is the Bread Party with 52%
and the Chicken Party with 48%
meaning Bread wins another term.
the Salmon Party are the last to drop out, leaving only the Bread and Chicken Party remaining.
We are now down to our familiar two party system.
Because of the centrist and sway-able Salmon voters
future election may end with a Bread party victory
Only for Chickens to take it back, and on and on the cycle will continue.
But the two main parties never change
The citizens of Nordania are now stuck in this system!
not because they are bad people
its because they lack understanding of how their electoral system works
First Past the Post will always end in a two party system
often with many unhappy voters
And now, 63% of the citizens are stuck with a candidate that isn't even their first choice.
Its these voters that choose not to take an interest in politics
because they feel there is no effective way to have their voice heard
or to get the changes they want
but this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to First Past the Post
lets move onto...
[Gerrymandering] - Curve the Odds
If the citizens are divided into groups before they vote
they are vulnerable to Gerrymandering.
lets imagine 12 homes
each represents a single vote
Politicians have enormous incentives to create safe seats for themselves
Even though it may misrepresent the majority of the citizens
the US has Absurd examples of this
with places like North Carolina, which has electoral regions similar to puzzle pieces
The Washington post has an interactive map of Gerrymandering in the United States
I strong suggest you view it after this video to see how your region stacks up
[Links and Sources below]
Now, you - seeing the democratic process in a new light
might be thinking, "lets vote for a third party"
we must "drain the swamp"
but there is one last fault in First Past the Post
And it makes a third party victory nearly impossible.
[The Spoiler Effect] - Divide and Conquer
Lets imagine its been year and years of chicken and Bread rule
and people are tired of the old system
With the same old policies and forgotten promises
the truffles decide that right now is the time to enter the race
They fund their campaign
establish a large following
and even debate with the two main parties
when election night comes around, the Truffle Party gets 21% of the total votes
mostly from former chicken supporters
because they are closer to each other on the political spectrum
the Bread Party now has more votes than both parties
and easily wins the election
this is the worst part about First Past the Post
The more the Citizens of a nation push for change
by electing new parties to power
the easier it is for an already established party
to gain total control
Right now, you may be upset with this electoral system that we have in this very country! (US & Canada)
but what other options do we have?
You should be able to vote for the party you like msot
without having to worry
and it should encourage the formation of new political parties
while also ensuring that the smaller parties are able to grow their support
Now that the citizens of Nordania see, and understand the flaws in their system
what can they do to make it better? what alternatives do they have to
First Past the Post
[Credits]
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