Referenda may well have a place in the country’s democracy, but if the form of an electoral system can be referred to a referendum, why not capital punishment, abortion or LGBT rights?
Basotho men wearing the traditional blankets during the annual horse race held on the king’s birthday.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
The whole idea behind independent candidates is the hope that their inclusion might improve the accountability of parliamentarians to the voters. The bill doesn’t do that.
There are indications that more and more Canadians feel the federal government doesn’t represent their views.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The wave of protests across Canada against vaccine mandates are signs of growing tensions that the federal government doesn’t represent the views of many people. It’s time for election reform.
Our first-past-the-post electoral system works poorly when there are lots of three-way races and even some four-way races. Seats can be won with far less than a majority, meaning it’s time to revisit electoral reform.
Pietro Mattia/Unsplash
The ANC’s choice of parliamentary Speaker reflects poorly on the party leadership and contrasts starkly with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s commitment to uncorrupt governance.
People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) supporters at a campaign rally. The party has run the country since independence in 1975.
Photo by Osvaldo Silva / AFP) via Getty Images.
The March elections in the Netherlands, and the fact that a government still hasn’t been formed, illustrate both the benefits and problems with proportional representation.
Supporters of former President Trump gather outside of Trump Tower during a rare visit Trump made to his New York offices, March 8, 2021.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
South Africa’s Constitutional Court verdict is possibly a defining moment for South Africa’s electoral system.
Lesotho’s former Prime Minister Tom Thabane, left, and his successor Moeketsi Majoro, at the latter’s swearing in ceremony at the Royal Palace in Maseru.
Molise Molise/AFP-GettyImages
Moeketsi Majoro’s installation as Prime Minister is welcome. But it does not guarantee much needed political stability in an era of complex coalition politics.
Other voting systems are available.
tkemot/Shutterstock
A chorus of politicians are once again calling for electoral reform after the UK’s 2019 election.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
arrive at the Commonwealth Heads of Government 2018 meeting in Windsor, England, in April 2018. New Zealand moved from the first-past-the-post electoral system in 1993 to a system that helped put Ardern in power.
(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Unlike Canada’s newly elected House of Commons, New Zealand’s parliament reflects the will of voters. So do other proportional representation systems. Canada has plenty of choice.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his way to a news conference at in Ottawa on Oct. 23, 2019. What would the election results look like if Canada had proportional representation?
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Senate voting is pretty complicated. Here’s how preferential voting and proportional representation work – and how to make sure your vote is counted on election day.
South Africans go to the polls on 8 May, 2019.
EPA/Nic Bothma
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University