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A Proportional Representation System Is Best for Iraq Now
From The Washington Post, an opinion article by Andrew Reynolds, an associate professor of political science, a member of a National Endowment for Democracy team advising on constitutional issues in Iraq, and an electoral systems adviser in more than 20 countries.In recent weeks conservatives have criticized the choice of a proportional representation system for Iraqâs elections and have disparaged the U.N. electoral assistance department and its director, Carina Perelli. ... Proportional representation will avoid the anomalies that are prevalent when single-member districts or some variant thereof are used in emerging democracies. In 1998 the Lesotho Congress for Democracy won all but one seat in parliament with 60 percent of the vote; rioting and state collapse ensued. In the 2000 Mongolian elections, the ruling party took 95 percent of the seats with 58 percent of the vote. In Iraq such a system would most likely give a significant "seat bonus" to Shiite parties, to the detriment of Sunni-based groups and embryonic multiethnic movements. The St. Lucian Nobel Prize-winner Sir Arthur Lewis cautioned 40 years ago that "the surest way to kill the idea of democracy in a plural society is to adopt the Anglo-American system of First Past the Post." ... First-past-the-post systems in divided African and Asian societies have facilitated the development of ethnically chauvinistic parties. Conversely, there are inherent incentives in proportional representation to appeal beyond the boundaries of your group; proportionality leaves a space for multiethnic parties to grow, as in South Africa. Every vote counts toward gaining extra seats in the national legislature, and this would motivate broader vote appeals from Kurdish and Sunni parties in Iraq. Majority-based systems also systematically exclude women and smaller minority groups from representation. Women are underrepresented throughout the world, but the situation is significantly worse when single-member districts are used. Proportional representation allows the use of special mechanisms for gender diversity when constituting party lists. Finally, using proportional representation avoids the political powder keg of drawing district boundaries, and it makes voter registration far easier. ... The trend nowadays is for both established and emerging democracies to move to mixed systems, combining party slates and individual-candidate voting in districts, which satisfy various needs. No system can guarantee a democratic Iraq, but imposing winner-take-all elections would be like playing Russian roulette with Iraqâs political future. Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-07-06 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=37301 |