As problematic as politics is in Australia, I regularly give thanks we have a) a preferential (ranked) voting system so we're not forced to vote strategically for the two big parties; and b) compulsory voting, which dilutes the effect of extremists.
We still have the same problems everyone else has, of the rich and corporate over-influencing politicians, but those two things help moderate that particular evil.
(We need to move on to proportional representation too, as the big parties are down to a third of the vote each now. But that's another story.)
@timrichards how can you have both ranked choice and proportional representation? Ranked choice results in redistribution of votes and distorts the proportionality of representation.
@dragestil We have both in voting for our Senate - when redistributing surplus votes according to preference, a formula is used which distributes a relevant portion of the original vote.
@timrichards You know, I don't think PR would be a good thing. You need a strong government who is able to do things and enact law (see the US model for how that doesn't work). Preferential voting is helpful, since it appears to deliver a strong government able to do stuff, as well as moderate the bad things.
To me, PR just delivers weak leadership unable to achieve anything. If weak leadership can't reverse bad laws, it's worse than those who pass bad laws.
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