Professor
Tommy Hutchison
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2020
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exiledclaseboy said:BLAZE said:The Daily Mail commenters were quick to point out that a PR system has seen Italy have 68 governments in 75 years, whilst nothing gets done due to the constant upheaval. Is that a fair point? I ask because I don't know
Italy is often held up an an example of how PR can lead to unstable governments. But what Italy gets, for better or worse, is a Parliament that largely reflects how the people voted. We don’t and never have. And Italy is notoriously combustible politically. Many other countries use forms of PR with no such instability.
And of course our own first past the post system, which apparently promotes stable government, has in the last 12 years produced two hung parliaments, one coalition and four prime ministers. So we’re not exactly a model of stability.
Absolutely. Netherlands (Mark Rutte been PM since 2010), Germany, Denmark. Sweden etc. all incredibly stable politically with PR. Most rely on consensus politics and are, in general, centre left by UK standards. All have a higher living standard in the UK and less wealth disparity.