Small party + PR = Change

An example, in addition to Norway, of the influence a small party can have, with a PR system:

The Netherlands, after sinking to the bottom, seems to have a beacon of light: A new Christian Union small party that is now part of a government coalition.

Excerpts from the WASHINGTON POST article (reprinted by The Toronto Star, now also linked form the FamilyCoalitionParty.com web page): "Dutch losin their tolerance for tolerance"

"...Today, with an orthodox Christian political party in the government for the first time, and with immigration anxieties fuelling a national search for identity, the country that has been the world's most socially liberal political laboratory is rethinking its anything-goes policies..."

"...The effort to rein in the Netherlands's famed social liberties is not limited to the small, newly empowered Christian Union party, which holds two of the 16 ministries in the coalition government formed this year..."

"...Editor Kranendonk said his Christian Union party is realistic: "When you're a small party, you can't change everything in four years...

"...If you had said to me in 1995 that one of the main orthodox Christian parties would be in the government today, I wouldn't have believed it," Kranendonk said. "The number of Christians is diminishing, churches are closing...''