Exactly. I was having this conversation with some friends of mind the other day.

Tech geek, political junkie, gay, LGBT activist, entrepreneur.

Aug 6, 2016

In America, by contrast, the coalitions are the parties. Our system also produces alternation of power, and requires compromises among competing interests, but those compromises happen within long-standing caucuses; issues come and go, but the two parties remain. This forces the citizens themselves to get involved in the disappointing tradeoffs, rather than learning about them after the fact.

There’s No Such Thing As A Protest Vote

Clay Shirky

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Exactly. I was having this conversation with some friends of mind the other day. I articulated the same point about parliamentary vs. the U.S. system re: coalition & compromise.

The U.S. system is arguably more democratic, because when your party makes a compromise you’re not okay with, you can switch parties before the final vote. Parties and candidates are forced to make compromises that are acceptable enough to secure a coalition of voters. In a parliamentary system, the compromises happen after the votes have already been cast.

Conversely, the parliamentary system might make voters feel more represented. They are more likely to encounter a candidate that matches up with them ideologically and so they are never forced to deal with accepting compromises themselves, however begrudgingly.