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One drastic difference between the US and almost every other system is the first-past-the-post, winner-take-all system of representation. A party receiving 5% o
by ilikehurdles 7y ago
One drastic difference between the US and almost every other system is the first-past-the-post, winner-take-all system of representation. A party receiving 5% of the votes in a German vote can receive 5% representation. A candidate winning 49.3% of the vote in a US race wins 0% of the representation for their party. The US system is not built for coalition-building or decentralization. Power is concentrated in the singular candidate rather than the collective party.
- bhupy 7y agoOn the surface, you're right, but in all of those systems, you still need a governing majority. In parliamentary systems, coalitions are formed after the election. In America, the coalitions are formed before the election. The two major parties, really, are big tents comprising a handful of minor parties within them. You can see this manifest in the ideological breadth of representatives within the same party, across different constituents. In a parliamentary system, some of those constituents would elect the same representative, just under the banner of a more appropriate political party.