Monday, May 4, 2009

87% of the world's population doesn't live in full democracies. Therefore we should not support BC-STV

--Not!

We hear from supporters of the antiquated First-Past-the-Post voting system that the good people of British Columbia should not support BC-STV (Single Transferable Vote) because very few countries in the world use it. If we take their logic further, we should not have any kind of free democratic institution because 83.2 percent of the countries in the world representing 87 percent of the world's population are not full democracies. According to the The Economist Intelligence Unit’s index of democracy, full democracies had to score well in 1) electoral process and pluralism, 2) functioning of government, 3) political participation, 4) political participation, 5) political culture, and 6) civil liberties. Canada ranked ninth. Twenty-eight countries are considered full democracies.

  • Most of the world's countries are not democracies;
  • Most of the world's population does not live in full democracies;
  • Few people live in full democracies;
  • Very few people live in democracies that use the Single Transferable Vote.

  • British Columbians can either follow the majority of the world by someday becoming undemocratic; or
  • British Columbians can lead the world in building a better democracy by supporting BC-STV in the referendum on May 12.

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