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Is voting based on matching your exact ideology a good idea? You could have a system where everyone has a party that represents their views exactly, but democra

Is voting based on matching your exact ideology a good idea? You could have a system where everyone has a party that represents their views exactly, but democracy is about compromise, which takes political skill. This should be a factor in voting. In the UK, up until recently we had a pretty far left guy called Jeremy Corbyn in charge of Labour, the largest left wing party. I was pretty aligned with him on a his ideas but I thought he was completely ineffective as a political leader, and that he would never have gained the capital to get his own policies through. I was glad to see him gone.

Barrin92 5y ago
Germany utilizes a proportionate parliamentary system and the level of consensus building is supposed to happen at the party level. People express their party preferences, and coalitions are going to produce governments that can legislate. The German chancellor does not tower over policy. You're primarily voting for a party, not a person. Even more so in Scandinavia, where minority governments are common. This is not really comparable to the largely antagonistic two party system of the UK (or the US) where conflict between individuals and leader figures feature so heavily.
- sweezyjeezy 5y ago
  Sounds nice :b
- mytailorisrich 5y ago
  > You're primarily voting for a party, not a person. It's the same in the UK and in both cases the party leader is in charge. One key difference is that the UK's political landscape is bi-partite so coalitions are usually not needed. The voting system in the UK is also designed to produce a clear majority in Parliament in order to allow for a stable and effective government (by 'effective' I am able to implement its policies, i.e. to legislate).
_ph_ 5y ago
Such a tool can give only a guide to which parties might represent your ideas best. I ran through it, it went into the direction I am deciding to, but not very precisely. That is already the case because the questions can capture your intents only coarsely. For your actual decision, a lot of other aspects should play a role. In general, the party should have more weight than the individual candidate, but only so much. And especially, in Germany the government will consist of a coalition of at least 2 parties, probably 3 this year. While I do think that on the first order of approximation you should elect the party which represents you best, sometimes strategic considerations can play a role too.

Barrin92 5y ago

Germany utilizes a proportionate parliamentary system and the level of consensus building is supposed to happen at the party level. People express their party preferences, and coalitions are going to produce governments that can legislate. The German chancellor does not tower over policy. You're primarily voting for a party, not a person. Even more so in Scandinavia, where minority governments are common. This is not really comparable to the largely antagonistic two party system of the UK (or the US) where conflict between individuals and leader figures feature so heavily.

sweezyjeezy 5y ago
Sounds nice :b
mytailorisrich 5y ago
> You're primarily voting for a party, not a person. It's the same in the UK and in both cases the party leader is in charge. One key difference is that the UK's political landscape is bi-partite so coalitions are usually not needed. The voting system in the UK is also designed to produce a clear majority in Parliament in order to allow for a stable and effective government (by 'effective' I am able to implement its policies, i.e. to legislate).

_ph_ 5y ago

Such a tool can give only a guide to which parties might represent your ideas best. I ran through it, it went into the direction I am deciding to, but not very precisely. That is already the case because the questions can capture your intents only coarsely. For your actual decision, a lot of other aspects should play a role. In general, the party should have more weight than the individual candidate, but only so much. And especially, in Germany the government will consist of a coalition of at least 2 parties, probably 3 this year. While I do think that on the first order of approximation you should elect the party which represents you best, sometimes strategic considerations can play a role too.