4 ms·

You also get small parties extorting billions in pork for their support or pet project in the UK the DUP and Libdems in the previous coalition did this and like

You also get small parties extorting billions in pork for their support or pet project in the UK the DUP and Libdems in the previous coalition did this and likewise the greens in Germany.

TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
The DUP and LibDems are examples of FPTP distortions in the UK. The “extortion’ by the Greens doesn’t seem to have damaged Germany unduly, except by forcing it down the path to so-cheap-it’s-almost-free renewable energy.
- Paradigma11 9y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Germany "According to Forbes, the IEA reports that in 2015, German prices were 17.9 cents per kwh for industry, and 39.5 cents per kwh for residential customers, versus 7 and 12.5 cents respectively in the U.S."
  - oblio 9y ago
    In what measure is that a result of bad policy and or a result of a desire to promote thriftiness? After all gas in the US is cheap and in Europe it's expensive and I think a major part of the price are excises meant to discourage consumpation. As a side note, the EU is also pushing heavily energy efficiency for homes, this might be related.
    - walshemj 9y ago
      Given that was the direct result of a panic over tsunami's in japan and guess what Germany doesn't have much of a coast line. The early mothballing of Germanys nuclear reactor which where being phased out is the direct cause of the increase.
      - germanier 9y ago
        The German nuclear phase-out and funding of renewable energy development through electricity taxes was started in 2000, a decade before the Fukushima event and as a direct result of a (by then) two decade old environmental movement. The German government decided to extend the lifetime of some reactors shortly before the event but that plan was immediately scrapped again. Risk of tsunamis itself were not the reason but rather that the public overwhelmingly did not trust the operators to follow safe procedures given that the Japenese operator didn't. But again, nuclear power was really unpopular even before that.
- walshemj 9y ago
  no its just rare in FPTP compared to PR systems which can give minority parties an advantage their small vote does not deserve
talideon 9y ago
We haven't had a single-party government in Ireland since the '50s, and it hasn't done us a lick of harm. Quite the opposite, in fact, as junior parties tend to be a moderating influence on the senior one. If anything, it's typically the junior party that gets shafted the most when the elections come. If you want real pork extortion, then you need a minority government propped up by a deal with an opposition party. That's what you have with the DUP.
- walshemj 9y ago
  Exactly my point though quite my comment was voted down I wasn't expecting many hardline brexiters on here. And Ireland has had major problems like Bertie Ahern and Charles James Haughey?
  - talideon 9y ago
    Those two gobshites are more a consequence of political culture, especially within FF, than voting system.

You also get small parties extorting billions in pork for their support or pet project in the UK the DUP and Libdems in the previous coalition did this and likewise the greens in Germany.

TheOtherHobbes 9y ago

The DUP and LibDems are examples of FPTP distortions in the UK. The “extortion’ by the Greens doesn’t seem to have damaged Germany unduly, except by forcing it down the path to so-cheap-it’s-almost-free renewable energy.

Paradigma11 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Germany "According to Forbes, the IEA reports that in 2015, German prices were 17.9 cents per kwh for industry, and 39.5 cents per kwh for residential customers, versus 7 and 12.5 cents respectively in the U.S."
- oblio 9y ago
  In what measure is that a result of bad policy and or a result of a desire to promote thriftiness? After all gas in the US is cheap and in Europe it's expensive and I think a major part of the price are excises meant to discourage consumpation. As a side note, the EU is also pushing heavily energy efficiency for homes, this might be related.
  - walshemj 9y ago
    Given that was the direct result of a panic over tsunami's in japan and guess what Germany doesn't have much of a coast line. The early mothballing of Germanys nuclear reactor which where being phased out is the direct cause of the increase.
    - germanier 9y ago
      The German nuclear phase-out and funding of renewable energy development through electricity taxes was started in 2000, a decade before the Fukushima event and as a direct result of a (by then) two decade old environmental movement. The German government decided to extend the lifetime of some reactors shortly before the event but that plan was immediately scrapped again. Risk of tsunamis itself were not the reason but rather that the public overwhelmingly did not trust the operators to follow safe procedures given that the Japenese operator didn't. But again, nuclear power was really unpopular even before that.
walshemj 9y ago
no its just rare in FPTP compared to PR systems which can give minority parties an advantage their small vote does not deserve

talideon 9y ago

We haven't had a single-party government in Ireland since the '50s, and it hasn't done us a lick of harm. Quite the opposite, in fact, as junior parties tend to be a moderating influence on the senior one. If anything, it's typically the junior party that gets shafted the most when the elections come. If you want real pork extortion, then you need a minority government propped up by a deal with an opposition party. That's what you have with the DUP.

walshemj 9y ago
Exactly my point though quite my comment was voted down I wasn't expecting many hardline brexiters on here. And Ireland has had major problems like Bertie Ahern and Charles James Haughey?
- talideon 9y ago
  Those two gobshites are more a consequence of political culture, especially within FF, than voting system.