I'm not sure that people were upset about coalitio...

2009-05-19T22:16:03.174-07:00

I'm not sure that people were upset about coalition governments in general, so much as they were about coalitions with the Bloc in particular.

My anecdotal experience is that ill-informed voters are fairly distrustful of change to the electoral system, so I find it hard to believe they were the ones propping up STV the first time around (and I agree that they were probably the voters who stayed home this time). That being said, I have also talked to very well informed people who felt strongly about FPTP being the better system.

For what it's worth, I voted against STV in 2005 because of the complexity, and then for it in 2009 because I decided the proportional representation made it worth it.

I'm going to suggest two other explanations. Fir...

2009-05-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

I'm going to suggest two other explanations.

First, as hinted at in the second article you linked to, many people might not have liked the idea of a coalition government. When the Liberals and NDP were talking about a coalition (with Bloc support) last year, the Tories found a lot of support for the claim that this was somehow a perversion of the democratic system. Perhaps December's threat of a coalition turned people against STV.

Second, people might actually have preferred FPTP to STV. It's worth noting that your first two links put the loss down to "enough people voting on an issue they know nothing about" or "ignorance". If ill-informed voters were keeping STV from winning, then you'd expect that when voter participation dropped from 62% to 48%, as it did this year, then support would rise as only the most dedicated, and hence informed, voters voted. Instead, support dropped.

I'd like to see STV or PR, but, as with the Iraq war or Bush v Kerry, it's worth remembering that, even if you're right, it's probably false to say that everyone who disagrees with you is simply stupid.

Comments on Fumbled Mumblings: Why BCSTV Lost

I'm not sure that people were upset about coalitio...

I'm going to suggest two other explanations. Fir...