Other countries electoral systems

[mapuc]

Not so long ago we had the English political election and in a couple of month we have the American Presidential election

Have at occasion been thinking about Other countries electoral systems and how and why

How did their former politicians came to use this type of electoral system

and why

As an outside it's sometimes hard to see 32000 votes being flushed because his or her opponent got 40000.

Have heard some saying, that why it's important to vote-TRUE

But you will NEVER see a voting percentage on 100 % and even if you did there will still be a different between two politicians

So instead of 32000 he or she may get 86000 and the other 94000 and we are back to same problem-those 86000 down the drain.

I try to understand it that's what I'm trying.

And its not a "haha look at them they have an unfair election system" It's more a "how does it work and what does the people say about it" and how and why was it created that way.

Markus

[Mittelwaechter]

I want you to think for yourself - so I ask you some questions.

Imagine you are a platation owner and you have 200 workers picking cotton for you.
They are unhappy, because they do all the work and have only a little, while you don't do the work, but are rich and have a nice lifestyle.

What would you do?

Would you wait until your workers get mad and attack you and your family?
Take over your platation - you having suddenly no nice lifestyle any longer?

Would you let them elect 10 workers to become politicians, “who shall rule the platation”?
And would you let those 10 rule the plantation - or would you keep it under control yourself?

Could you motivate the politicians to tell the 190 workers what you want?
They don't have to pick cotton any longer and enjoy a nice lifestyle now.
If they act accordingly to your wishes, you would help them to get re-elected - to enjoy the nice lifestyle longer - not picking cotton again.

So who controls the plantation, who enjoys a nice lifestyle - and who has to compensate for the missing 10 workers?
And additionally pay 10 politicians for their nice lifestyle?

So why have some clever plantation owners installed a democracy?

[Oberon]

So, the plantation workers get fed up of their democracy and one night they cut the throats of the politicians and the owner while they sleep. They celebrate freeing themselves of the shackles of their masters all night and long into the next day, using food and liquor stolen from the owners mansion.
No-one harvests cotton, no-one wants to do the labour that they've been forced to do for so long, and for the first few weeks no-one has to.
Then the pantry starts to run dry and the workers realise that someone needs to go to the shops to get some more food and drink, for a couple of weeks they are able to use the money that they found in the owners mansion, but soon that runs out as well.
Meanwhile, whilst this situation is unfolding there are frequent fights between the workers about who gets to sleep in the master bedroom of the mansion, everyone wants the comfy double bed and luxurious decor of the room, eventually they work out a rota in which every worker who wishes to is able to spend one night in the comfortable mansion. Soon though, these 'luxury' nights become a form of unofficial currency, allowing workers to trade favours for switching their nights around on the rota. In this manner some of the bottles of liquor and delicate snacks disappear from the larder while certain workers who are willing to repeatedly do the work for other workers get longer nights on the comfy bed.
Now back to the food crisis, and it's clear that the workers need some form of currency to get food and drink from the local shops, but there's nothing they have to sell...no-one wants to give up the luxury items in the house but no-one wants to go hungry. Meanwhile there's a whole load of fields of cotton out there that is starting to rot, so quickly a system is set up in which some of the workers agree to harvest the cotton on a rotating pattern, only half of the crop is harvested and so the food and liquor that is bought isn't quite enough for all of them to enjoy the same luxury that they had in the days after. For some this is fine, but for others it is unacceptable.
Soon a rift begins to form in the workers, and it's decided that there needs to be an arbitrator to settle arguments and steer the council of workers in the direction of the needs of the people. Since it is a hard job, the arbitrator receives an extra set of rations.
The arbitrator and the council soon work on centralising all decisions and power in their favour, it becomes easy to get things done for people who are able to acquire items for council members or undertake favours. Using this to their advantage, a worker from Georgia gets himself voted onto the council and becomes a close friend of the arbitrator, who is an old man and one of the men who undertook the initial raid on the mansion. By now, the master bedroom of the mansion is used by the arbitrator only who has appointed armed men to help keep arguments on the farm from spreading out of hand, he states that he doesn't want these men with spiked clubs to keep watch around the farm but if arguments are allowed to spread unchecked then they will bring ruin to all of them. The lowest worker on the farm gets his ration stolen from him one day, he comes to the arbitrator to complain and his case is referred to the council...however, what he doesn't know is that the thief has already been to many of the council members and given them favours and rations from his stores which he keeps hidden away. The council rejects the lowest workers case, and he goes hungry.
Soon the old man arbitrator dies, and the worker from Georgia nominates himself to replace him, the council agrees since the worker has coerced them into doing so. He centralises the armed guards as his own protective force, and uses a mixture of brute force and coercion to stuff the council full of yes men, and centralise power to himself.

Then a group of workers lead by a farmer from Austria on the next farm invade. :know:

[Mittelwaechter]

:up:

Or the workers united - because they were able to discuss and understand and learn - and offered the plantation owner two alternatives - the french shave or the re-sheep: to cut off his head - or to give back all the stolen - privatized - wealth back to the community and join them.
And all workers understood, that violence is evil and that freedom means to be in control of ones own fate. Which means no ruler controls your fate, but you have to control yourself.
And because the smart workers simply worked on - but didn't have to pay the plantation owner any longer, all had more than before. Just the plantation owner had to work too - to live the same life of all the others.

And this idea spread to Austria - as the Austrian plantation owner feared. But he was no longer in control of his workers perception, but had to work for his living like all the other “unhappy people”. The power to divide the workers and make them kill each other was gone, and all workers had a full life, having fun with their girls, waching their children grow.

There were some workers not smart enough to understand what happened and what future was offered. They were of the same nobility as the plantation owners before. They thought it is easy to live on the back of the others and enjoy life by making them work.

But the united free workers - owning all the wealth of the world - to be shared amongst them fairly - tried to teach them the consequences - and those who understood joined the union. The others were put into a reservation and left alone. But because these couldn't find enough workers to pay their lifestyle, they had to work themselves, just like all the others outside of the reservation. And a few grew smart and understood how a peaceful life works.

But of course not all of them. Some tried it with force again - and enslaved and exploited others in the reservation, to make them work and provide for them. And they collected wealth - to be invested into weapons - to attack the peaceful workers outside the reservation - to get their ressources and workers under control.

But the union of the free anticipated this - and this time they didn't offer any alternatives again...