Straight thoughts 8

November 8, 1999

Societies in the past were governed by either concentration of power (e.g.: dictatorships), or delegation of power (e.g.: democracies).
As societies became more complex and the rate of change grew exponentially, dictatorships could not cope and democracies were adopted in most countries.
The remaining question is: how much concentration of power do we want in our governments?
The current electoral rules, both at the federal and the provincial levels, intentionally assist the leader of one party to become an autocrat. The latest examples are Trudeau, Malroney, Chretien, Peterson, Rae, and Harris.
If high concentration of power is bad, then we should have less of it.
This concept translates into an electoral system where more parties are represented, minority governments are more common and, when necessary, governments are formed through coalitions.
If the rules for seat assignment better reflected the popular vote, we would have more dynamic and less autocratic governments.