Proportional Representation might seem attractive to the Non-Educated BUT it doesnt work in practice. Here in Scotland we are lumbered with both PR and FPTP all within the same election. It flings up all sorts of anamolies and problems. We end up with huge undeserved majorities which do not represent the views of the vast majority of Scots. For many years it was the L/W Labour party, then it became an even more L/W SNP. Scots are by nature slightly centre Left, but the Skewed Electoral system up here is geared purely for political extremists.
You say: Proportional Representation might seem attractive to the Non-Educated BUT it doesn’t work in practice.
Probably more attractive to the over educated (aka Useful Idiots)
You say: Here in Scotland we are lumbered with both PR and FPTP all within the same election. It flings up all sorts of anomalies and problems
Yes, I noticed some of the complications on a TV news program in the last couple of weeks. Very complicated. Very Heath Robinson
You say: We end up with huge undeserved majorities which do not represent the views of the vast majority of Scots. For many years it was the L/W Labour party, then it became an even more L/W SNP. Scots are by nature slightly centre Left, but the Skewed Electoral system up here is geared purely for political extremists.
I'm still not sure why the skewed electoral system tilts in favour of political extremists. Without your explanation I just think that any kind of tilt in political policy gets magnified by treating that tilt as a dichotomy rather than a more nuanced matter of degree. I think biases feed on themselves.
Broadening this subject, I think PR resembles the worst aspect of education, where almost everyone’s a winner, which I view as a.regression to mediocrity. It's very Left Wing, very Equal Outcome. Depending on the method of PR, it can create an outcome where candidates get selected without ever coming first. The FPTP method at least generates a winner.
The downside can be when it’s a near-tie photo-finish. But then it depends on the reason why the two candidates almost tied. If it’s because they are both recognised as high quality candidates, each with good ideas or proposals, then it’s six of one versus a half a dozen of the other. But if the near-tie is because of two distinct but near-equal segments of voters, where each segment's choice is more influenced by the party than by the candidate, then the quality of the candidate and their ideas and proposals get quashed by party politics or dogma. The downside of party politics is to end up with candidates who tend towards adequacy, who are team players, without a mind of their own, thereby leadership potential.
Also, when you’ve got a mass of exceeding average MP’s arguing in ever- decreasing circles and conflicted between what might be the right thing to do versus what their party insists it stands for, citizens in Britain generally or Scotland in particular, are ill-served.
That is why I think party politics is an out-of-date concept which gets in the way of effective democratic government decision-making. There is only one political concept that makes any sense and that’s a roughly central /non-extremist positioning in a world of capitalism, with a variety of views, depending on the topic. Left versus Right is archaic as a topic; it encourages binary thinking.
No MP candidate should be given power who believes in equal outcome. Nor should an MP candidate be given power who believes that those who fall through the cracks of society should be neglected or ignored by government on the grounds of being the architects of their own misfortune. Unrestricted capitalism fosters ruthless materialism. The former must be checked by government control, the latter must be dissuaded by government though education. That said, a degree of authoritarianism woud certainly not go amiss in this over-permissive society but no decent person should wish a sensible degree authoritarianism to drift into fascism.
As for uncompromising democracy (whatever that means!), I’m against a situation where all 600+ MP’s have an equal vote on whatever issue they decide to get agitated or excited about. It slows up, even messes up decision-making. I favour a system of government based on meritocracy. My hero in that respect is Lee Kuan. A less drastic change (more evolution than revolution) would be a nominated cabinet of 15-20 exceptional politicians (chosen by their peers) who make the decisions, after airing the subject among that over-abudance of 600+ MP’s but with more time alloted, which will prevent blathering on and pontificating until doomsday, and certainly without being able to exercise voting power; influence yes, voting power to permit or stymie decision-making, no. If you're not sure about that, remember how long UK parliament p!$$ed about for almost 3 years trying to deliver the referendum result to leave the EU? That farce would have happened whether it was 52:48 or 55:45.