You decide to create your own party. The Chocolate Party.
Under FPTP, after intense campaigning, you get 21% of the votes nationally. It’s a huge achievement. 1 out 5 people trusted you. Millions of people voted for you. Sadly, you only won 1 race. You were defeated in the other races. So you get 1 representative in parliament. The millions of people who voted for you ? Their voice is underrepresented.
Under proportional representation, if you win 15% of the total votes, you automatically get 15% of the seats in Parliament. Every single vote matters.
Another negative consequence of FPTP is that it discourages people from creating new political parties when your society is divided.
Many Canadians voted for the liberal party of Mark Carney. Why? Because they didn’t want Pierre Poilievre to be Prime Minister. They don’t like the Liberal Party. But they were afraid that voting Green or NDP would split the votes.
Many americans vote for a Democrat because they fear that if they don’t, the Republican candidate will win. Many americans vote Republican because if they don’t, they fear the Democratic candidate will win. Everyone is afraid that splitting the vote means the people they really don’t want in power will win.
You decide to create your own party. The Chocolate Party.
Under FPTP, after intense campaigning, you get 21% of the votes nationally. It’s a huge achievement. 1 out 5 people trusted you. Millions of people voted for you. Sadly, you only won 1 race. You were defeated in the other races. So you get 1 representative in parliament. The millions of people who voted for you ? Their voice is underrepresented.
Under proportional representation, if you win 15% of the total votes, you automatically get 15% of the seats in Parliament. Every single vote matters.
Another negative consequence of FPTP is that it discourages people from creating new political parties when your society is divided.
Many Canadians voted for the liberal party of Mark Carney. Why? Because they didn’t want Pierre Poilievre to be Prime Minister. They don’t like the Liberal Party. But they were afraid that voting Green or NDP would split the votes.
Many americans vote for a Democrat because they fear that if they don’t, the Republican candidate will win. Many americans vote Republican because if they don’t, they fear the Democratic candidate will win. Everyone is afraid that splitting the vote means the people they really don’t want in power will win.