On the Scene: Proportional Deception

ISRAEL has never had a majority government. Indeed, so chaotic were the results of its last parliamentary election, in 1988, that some changes in the electoral laws were finally introduced. The threshold for winning a seat in the Knesset under the proportional-representation (PR) system was raised from 1 per cent of the total vote to 1.5 per cent-and the results were apparent in last week’s election.

Israel has company in wanting to make its proportional-representation system less proportional. Italy is dealing with a voter revolt against a PR system that seems to lock the same old hacks into an endless game of musical chairs. Radek Sikorski has chronicled [NR, Dec. 2, 1991] the torment Poland is undergoing thanks to the decision to introduce PR. John Major won re-election in Britain at least partly by campaigning against hints from the opposition parties that they wanted to introduce some form of PR.

JA

About the Author

John A. Barnes

Featured Tags

ISRAEL has never had a majority government. Indeed, so chaotic were the results of its last parliamentary election, in 1988, that some changes in the electoral laws were finally introduced. The threshold for winning a seat in the Knesset under the proportional-representation (PR) system was raised from 1 per cent of the total vote to 1.5 per cent-and the results were apparent in last week’s election.

Israel has company in wanting to make its proportional-representation system less proportional. Italy is dealing with a voter revolt against a PR system that seems to lock the same old hacks into an endless game of musical chairs. Radek Sikorski has chronicled [NR, Dec. 2, 1991] the torment Poland is undergoing thanks to the decision to introduce PR. John Major won re-election in Britain at least partly by campaigning against hints from the opposition parties that they wanted to introduce some form of PR.