Sanford Fleming, Essays on Rectification of Parliament (published in 1893)
These essays were submitted in response to appeal made by Sandford Fleming in 1892 for essays on means of "Rectification of Parliament." He explained that he thought the House of Commons needed rectification because
- election of MPs through districts split and divided voters
- the two-party system forced many voters to suppress their natural instincts and channel their vote to the least evil, and then a majority of a party that holds a majority of the seat, perhaps with only a minority of the vote, then dictates to government.
Together these factors caused the House of Commons to be unrepresentative[ as it continues to be to this day.]
As there was a cash prize for the winners, the authors submitted their essays under pseudonyms. This makes the table of contents look odd.
The identity of the author can be surmised in at least one case. There is little doubt that the essay submitted by "Southern Cross" (#10) was submitted by Catherine Helen Spence, one of Australia's leading electoral reformers. Her pet cause was Single Transferable Voting, which she called Effective Voting. Her explanation of the means of conducting a demonstration STV election is very useful.
This blog is intended as something of a Coles Note version of the collection of published essays.
It consists of the table of contents of the book of essays, then extracts from each of the essays, followed by in-depth examination of a few of the essays.]
Essays on Rectification of Parliament
Table of Contents
1. Real Majority page 1
2. Nulla Vestigia Retrorsum [a Torontonian] page 6
3. "Dignus Vindice Nodus" page 8
1891 Canadian federal election page 12
(Draft) An Act Respecting the Election of members of the HofC of Canada page 18
4. "NEW OCCASIONS TEACH NEW DUTIES" page 25
(Appendix) An Act to Provide for Referendary Voting page 31
5. Spero Meliora page 32
6. Canadian Home Rule... page 39
"Act relating to the Electoral franchise ..." page 45
7. "Per Asperam ad Astra" page 50
what is representation? page 50
following essentials: page 51
changes required page 53
BILL TO REFORM THE SYSTEM ... page 55
8. In Deo Spero page 57
The Representation Act page 68
9. Pacifico page 71
CHAPTER I. A PRIORI NEGATIVE DEMONSTRATION page 71
Chapter II. A Posteriori Demonstration; The "Majority Rule" Myth page 72 Chapter III. Direct Legislation page 74
Chapter IV. The Cumulative Vote page 77
Chapter V. The Free Ticket or List page 78
Chapter VI. The Preferential Plan page 79
Chapter VII. General Considerations page 83
10. Southern Cross [Catherine Helen Spence*] page 90-
Chapter I. Importance of the Subject page 90
Chapter II. Method of Voting and Formation of the Quota page 96
Chapter III. Objections Answered page 100
Chapter IV. Effective Voting page 106
Chapter V. Palliatives - page 111
The Initiative and the Referendum - the Imperative Mandate - Direct Legislation
Chapter VI. Conclusion page 113
Chapter VII. DRAFT BILL FOR THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA page 117 Appendix I. [STV elections in Australia] page 120
Appendix II. [filling up a vacancy] page 121
(*on page 95 writer identified herself as daughter of early town clerk of Adelaide. This clinches that it is Catherine Helen Spence)
11. Equality [a U.S. writer] page 122
[CHAPTER I Introduction]
CHAPTER II The Failure of Legislative Assemblies page 139
CHAPTER III The Single-membered District page 141
CHAPTER IV The General Ticket page 153
CHAPTER V Proportional Representation page 156
A BILL For the Election of Congressional Representatives by Pro-rep page 157
defence of the proposed bill page 162 why should a minority party be excluded when its vote is less than 85 p.c. of quota.In the first place, exact justice is impossible. ...
Provision made to prevent an elector from losing any of his full number of lawful votes
CHAPTER VI ADVANTAGES OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION page 165
1. Pro-rep recognizes the nature of modern political problems page 165
2. The bill proposed is as simple as any that has been offered for effecting this kind of reform page 166
3. Pro-rep is eminently elastic in its adaptation to changes in population page 166
4. the justice and equality of pro-rep page page 166
5. Pro-rep promises independence of the voters and freedom from rule of the party machine page 167
Broda Count
6. Pro-rep brings into legislative assemblies able and experienced men, the true leaders and representatives of their parties and the people page 173
two features of proportional representation that permit the voters to discriminate between individuals, and to hold them, instead of parties, responsible page 175
We have a sham representation. page 175
7. Pro-rep would purify elections by removing the most potent of inducements for bribery and corruption. page 176
8. Legislatures would become deliberative assemblies instead of arenas for party strife. page 176
Chapter VII Conclusion page 182
Appendix - (relating to page 162) page 183-184]
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Summary of electoral reform proposals
and notes taken from Fleming's collection of essays
A goal pursued in the reforms of 1893 was:
that a majority of the seats will be elected by a majority of the voters. This did not have to mean a single party taking a majority of the seats, just that a majority of the voters elected it.
It also sometimes meant a majority of seats arrived at through vote transfers from first choices to lower choices. And sometimes combining representatives elected by multiple groups of voting blocks.
At least two of the proposals called for giving voters the liberty to vote for any candidate anywhere, thus potentially freeing them from the constraints imposed by the single-member district structure.
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S1. Real Majority page 1
That for purposes of representation in the House of Commons:the Province of Ontario shall be divided into four districts, as nearly equal in population as may be, each of which districts shall elect twenty-two members;
The Province of Quebec shall be divided into three districts, each of which shall elect 21 members;
the Province of Nova Scotia shall constitute one district, and shall have nineteen members;
the Province of New Brunswick shall constitute one district, and shall have thirteen members;
the Province of Manitoba shall constitute one district, and shall have six members;
the Province of Prince Edward Island shall constitute one district, and shall have five members;
the Province of British Columbia shall constitute one district, and shall have four members;
the Province of Alberta shall constitute one district, and shall have three members.
Hence, not only should every act of the government be that of the representatives of the people but of the representatives of a majority of the people.
...should the action of the representatives of the larger body, which is the result of a sort of political boiling down process, be the will of the majority of the whole people of the community....
through use of quota to allocate seats
In presenting a plan of action that must meet the approval of the mass of the people and which must be operated by the mass of the people, it is necessary that it shall be of such a nature as will first meet their approval, and, having been adopted, will be within their capabilities and understanding.
voters vote for their preferred party slate. Each slate has the candidates arranged by their party officials in order of preference. The voter then puts an x beside the individual candidates on that slate that he prefers. Votes totalled and quota arrived at (the Hare quota)Number of votes for each party totalled (using X's marked for preferred party slates).Party seat counts calculated as per the number of full quota won by each party, and the size of remainder Any remaining seats allocated to parties with largest remaindersMost popular candidates calculated. X's for individual candidates are counted as single votes for the X'ed candidates.The candidates of each body of electors nominating candidates and found entitled to representation under the foregoing rules shall receive certificates of election in the order of the votes received...
[Defence of the proposal]FPTP is unfair: "By dividing the voters into separate districts from each of which a member is elected by a plurality or majority vote as the case may be, all the votes cast for unsuccessful candidates are unrepresented; for a voter cannot be said to be represented by a candidate against whom he voted. But this is not the end."... "Not only are they entitled to vote but to vote in such a manner as will give effect to that vote. Hence, not only should every act of the government be that of the representatives of the people but of the representatives of a majority of the people."
the Hare system is uncertain due to random transfer of surpluses
On the other hand the Swiss party-list system is certain. But the Swiss, and other multi-vote systems are complex enough to cause the uninitiated voter to hesitate, and to enable the designing politician to confound him in the mazes of complicated detail that are bewildering to any but students.
District size optimized
"The province has been made the unit of representation where possible, for the reason that it is a natural political division with which the people are familiar. It is desirable that the unit of representation under any form of proportional representation shall be large enough to admit of representation to all reasonable minorities, and at the same time not so large that citizens cannot acquaint themselves with the affairs of the whole district. A district of from ten to twenty-five members is preferable, and for that reason the provinces of Ontario and Quebec have been divided."
The proposal is based on party slates. This is okay because parties stand for principles, and voter choose principles when it comes law-making.
However the writer was a bit suspicious of parties and that is why it was necessary for votes to record their preferences of individual candidates. Otherwise, he wrote "if the successful candidates were taken in the order in which they appear, the nominating parties would be tempted to place the corrupt and self-seeking at the top and the virtuous at the bottom."The ability of the voter to cast votes for individual candidates is "a safeguard against corrupt primaries and enables him to exercise a double choice in the selection of his representatives."...[The electoral system adopted] must embrace the elements of justice and equity.
At the same time it must be so simple and comprehensible that the ordinary citizen can understand and operate it. ... "With ballots furnished by the state and candidates nominated freely by all parties and political organizations entitled to a place on the ballot, and representatives chosen from them in proportion to the votes polled, it is patent that the voice of the people can be heard at any and all times. [and thus power of party machines is lessened]."
...[The quota system proposed here] "embraces the maximum of benefit from proportional representation with the minimum of change from the present methods and customs. It brings the representative into direct contact with the voter. It compels the candidates to submit to the scrutiny of the whole electoral unit, thus making it the advantage of parties to nominate men who are deserving and worthy of the honour conferred upon them. By enlarging the electoral unit, the possibilities of bribery, intimidation, and all the evils that now afflict us are minimized...
There will be no hopeless minorities and wasted majorities penned up in single districts. Every vote will bear directly upon the final result. Gerrymandering, that dragon that threatens representative government, will be utterly destroyed, and men instead of territory will be represented."
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S2. Nulla Vestigia Retrorsum (a Torontonian) page 6
Another essay proposed a system that involved district elections where each voter had one vote and other seats elected in province-wide elections where voters had to meet conditions and could cast "at-large" votes, as many as three if applicable. The single-member district elections were conducted same as in existing practice.
The province-wide districts were to be "safe constituencies for men of eminence, instructed in politics, who have acquired a wide reputation, but whom local interests might defeat in district constituencies." Candidates for these seats must have been an MP or MLA, head of a county or a city, a university professor, or "a Colonel in command of a Regiment of Militia or Volunteers." One "at-large" vote allowed to each voter if 30 years of age and married or widowed and with offspring; owner of property or financial investments; past government service, professional career or post-secondary degree or record of military leadership. Thus, voting for at-large seats would be through Limited Voting, where some voters could cast one vote and others up to three to fill multiple "at-large" seats, set at 10 percent of each province's seat total. ("Nulla Vestigia Retrorsum" [a Torontonian], Essays on Rectification of Parliament, p. 6-7)
...[Two aspects of the proposed system were:]"1st — Plural voting, in which property and intelligence both receive due weight. At the same time no franchise is taken away. If desired, both sexes may have the privilege and duty of voting.2nd — The rectification of parliament by providing under the name of "candidates at large" a safe constituency for men of eminence, instructed in politics, who have acquired a wide reputation, but whom local interests might defeat in territorial constituencies."allowed to vote if own land or savings; or are owner of a house or renter of at least medium quality residence.
Every British subject of the full age of 21 years, with certain exceptions, able to vote.
Extra vote allowed each voter if:- at least 30 yoa and being married or widowed and with offspring- if owner of much property- "hold a lawfully recognized degree from a university or school of practical science, or be a member of the professions of law, engineering or medicine, or have held within five years the rank of sergeant or commissioned officer in the militia or volunteers."These extra votes are to be cast only in election of at-large members.
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Of the members each Province of the Dominion elects to represent it in Parliament, nine-tenths shall be elected by constituencies with limited boundaries and similarly-sized populations, and one-tenth by the province at large. [thus each voting block of 20 percent (or in some cases less) of voters would elect a representative.
Candidates for at-large seats must have been an MP or MLA; head of a county or a city; or a Professor in some University or "a Colonel in command of a Regiment of Militia or Volunteers."Voters eligible to vote in at-large are issued separate ballots to cast in at-large elections, three to each voter at the most.
Thus, voting for at-large seats is through each eligible voter able to to cast multiple votes for multiple seats.
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S3. "Dignus Vindice Nodus" page 8
1891 Canadian federal election page 12
(Draft) An Act Respecting the Election of members of the HofC of Canada page 18
"Brief remarks bearing on the origin of Parliament, its slow and imperfect development, and its need of rectification" (as described on page 14):
[history of English constitution and Parliament starting in 1146]...
"The popular assembly [the House of Commons] is the actual ruling power in the State, and as the historian Freeman puts it in The growth of the English Constitution, "we have cast aside the legal subtleties that grew up from the 13th Century to the 17th, and have gone back to the plain commonsense of the 11th or 10th, and of times earlier still." (page 121)
[structure of Canadian government]
... "It is assumed that the people is represented in Parliament and that the power and authority proceeding from the people is vested in the assembled representatives. Our electoral usages fail to attain this end. In effect, they disfranchise a large majority of the electors. The true principle upon which Parliament should be constituted is not acted upon. This departure from the spirit of the constitution by which so large a number entitled to be represented in the councils of the Dominion, are left without any voice in State affairs, exercises an undesirable influence and constitutes a grave political injustice to the great bulk of the community."British parliamentary government was established during feudal times...."the principles of feudalism wore diametrically opposed to every theory of popular government."..."The strength of Feudalism, roughly assailed in the 13th Century, did not finally yield its power until the middle of the 17th. In Scotland, it was not abolished by Statute until 1747."...[no] good reason for the existence of [Official Opposition], a permanent organization whose main object is to oppose every Ministerial effort and impugn every Ministerial act."
[British constitutional reform is return to democratic roots back in Classical Greece][popular government in Canada]But election results of 1891 election show how far the Canadian electoral system is from its democratic aspirations.... "Fifty members on both sides, nearly one fourth of the whole House, were elected by majorities under 100. Of these fifty, twenty-eight were elected Government supporters, by less than 2800 votes. Obviously the reversal, by any means whatever, of so small a number as 2800 votes, distributed in only 28 constituencies" would have seen change of government....
This shows that "a possible change of 2800 votes out of 720,459, the total votes polled, might revolutionize the Government."
1891 election: 720,459 total votes231,238 electors voted for the elected members of the majority party. This group had received the votes of only one third of the voters.
480,221 votes can be described as wasted, for they were given to defeated candidates and to opposition members, neither of whom have any participation or voice in the Government.
And it is worse than that:
1,132,201 voters were listed on the voters list, but the comparatively small number of 231,238 of this number absolutely control Parliament.
... "At present our representation system is so imperfectly developed that we have but a figment of popular government, and no true responsible government."
The proposal:proposed to have one-fifth of the members elected regularly each year.
take the vote from men 21 years of agebut pursue an extension of the franchise: "bestow the voting power on the family, to be exercised through its head" but "A reasonable exception to the rule that families only should be allowed to vote, would be in the cases of unmarried or widowed householders of mature years."...It is therefore expedient to widen representation and enlarge the base of responsibility by seeking the co-operation of all, and by acceding to as many individuals as possible, a share in the administration of public affairs. ...
the writer's goal: "to extend to each individual elector a voice through his deputy and give him the freest possible choice in the selection of that deputy."
Observations on the existing system:
First. exceeding instability of the political equilibrium
Second. The returns point to an extraordinary dualism in the House of Commons.
The proposal is for groups of (25) electors of similar views to nominate one of their number as a representative elector. There would be 200 representative electors. If multiple people run for the post of representative elector, a series of run-off elections would be held.
The representative electors would elect the MPs.
any 10 representative electors would nominate candidates for HofC
if more than one runs, the winner would be found by ballot among representative electors or series of run-off elections representative electors.the winner having to receive a majority of the votes no one receiving a majority of the votes winner would be chosen by lot, but the "lottery" being slanted in favour of popular candidate.
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S4. "NEW OCCASIONS TEACH NEW DUTIES" page 25
(Appendix) An Act to Provide for Referendary Voting page 31
"a haphazard many-sided conflict of multitudinous interests" (page 25)
"In trying to remedy political abuses, we must deprive not only partisanship of its power, but corruption of its opportunity." page 27
"We have now accepted the principle of the sovereignty of the people.But the electoral machinery is not in harmony with the design, and the sovereignty is largely exercised by the mighty dollar, political cunning and blind chance." page 27
the history of direct voting by the people...These questions were referred to the people for the same reason that the directing of parliament in all matters is here urged. That is to enable the people to separate measures from men, and from other measures, and to avoid corruption.......In politics however, the legitimate directing power is silenced by overwhelming mass platform planks.
...In politics however, the legitimate directing power is silenced by overwhelming mass platform planks.
..."To give 'each elector due weight in the government through parliament and thereby to remove the gross political evils of this and other nominally democratic countries,' I propose an adaptation of the optional form of the Initiative and Referendum, which has given such satisfaction in Switzerland..."
... is it not better that the representative should be the slave of the people than that the people should be as they now are, the slaves of the representative?
representation of every interest would be secured by the knowledge that parliament was not supreme.
The Proposal: Give voters or MPs the right to initiate referendum
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S5. Spero Meliora page 32-38
[expanded notes below in Broad notes section - see B5]
"The greatest objection to Mr. Hare's scheme and others founded upon it is the large proportion of votes counted for candidates who are only the second, third, fourth and even lower choice of the voters. In other words, voters are represented eventually by persons inferior, in their estimation, to the candidates of their first choice."
and party-list is no good too.
"The objection to this plan is that it would draw the line between the parties even more intensely than at present. It would recognize party distinctions, which is one of the worst features of our political system."
The proposal [Fair assembly of voters list] "remove the stigma of partisanship, whether merited or unmerited, from the Executive Government."
[To prevent Voters being barred from voting]
This plan involved interactive representation (government by proxy) and delegated democracy (votes transferred according to wishes of votes, candidates or combination of both).
Proposes a plan that would ''give the whole people equal representation in Parliament." (page 32)
As, the writer postulates, "an elector should be represented in Parliament by a candidate whom he considers the best for the position and in whom he has implicit confidence," election of representatives through formed consensus under STV is not enough.
A preferred system would be a form of party list pro-rep, proposed by the writer. Votes would be "added up and divide by the unit of representation the total number of votes cast for the candidates of the different political parties allowing each party its proportionate number of numbers. The objection to this plan is that it would draw the line between the parties even more intensely than at present. It would recognize party distinctions, which is one of the worst features of our political system." (page 32)
[This is the obverse of the predicted action of STV. In some cases it is expected to winnow out extreme party candidates and draw parties together. Although election of OBU-friendly candidates in Calgary in 1919 and the election of a Communist in Winnipeg about that time deflate that line of reasoning.)
Reforms put into place to secure fair voters list and to prevent employers barring employees from voting.
"A plan for Electoral Representation to work satisfactorily must harmonize with the following propositions: — That the majority of Parliament represent the majority of the electors. That the minority of the electors have a proportionate voice in Parliament.That every vote should have its due weight in securing this result. That the ordinary elector can easily comprehend and practise the system of voting. With these objects in view the writer proposes the plan of measuring the voting power of each member by the actual number of votes received, thus securing the principle of a member representing the actual number of electors who vote for him." (page 33)
Votes to be transferred from unsuccessful candidates in direction previously indicated by candidate before election, unless voter marks his single vote to be transferred elsewhere. [a modified Gove System (Essays on Rectification, p. 99)] (Section 9.(1).)
Arbitrary quota of 20 percent of district vote required to be elected. This can be first choice votes or combination of first choice votes and votes transferred as directed from candidates in or outside the district that did not receive 20 percent. Votes transferred away from unsuccessful candidates can go to a candidate outside the district. This breaks down the barrier to joint effort imposed by a district boundary dividing a voting block. Under this system, the voter would have less work than under STV. He does not need to rank candidates. The vote though, unless voter marks other destination, is lumped in with all the other votes the candidate receives. and all are shifted, if necessary, to just one destination. However, if the destination candidate has already been found to have 20 percent of the district vote, unlike STV the votes are shifted to the destination marked for that candidate's transfer and so on and so on until finally the vote finds a home with a successful candidate, either to help elect someone or to add to the candidate's vote tally.Surpluses (votes over and above the 20 percent quota) are not transferred away. Votes, un-needed for the candidate's election, are not wasted though. They are added to the candidate's tally and go to give him more power in the House, through the Proxy plan described below.
System proposed:
"The name or names of Candidates to whom they are to be counted if the original candidate does not receive 20 percent of the total votes cast in the district either originally or by transference.
"Election of any candidates that receive 20 percent of the vote in their respective districts.
Candidates eliminated in order of the district they run (in alphabetical order of name of district). The only possibility where votes could be wasted is dealt with by this rule:
"Should two candidates who failed to receive the 20 percent quota be mutually mentioned as the alternative of each other on their respective ballots, the votes shall be counted to whichever candidate received the highest number of original votes." (page 37)The proposal also included provision of Interactive Representation. Under this, the total number of votes received by a member elected after the final apportionment of votes shall be the member's voting power in Parliament. "In all divisions in the House of Commons each member shall vote the number of votes credited to him. The side on any division [vote in the House] that has the highest aggregate number of votes shall be considered a majority of the House." (Section 21 of proposed bill).This is a form of the Proxy Plan, discussed in a newspaper 20 years earlier. Now it is known as Interactive Representation.Under the plan, the final vote count of the candidates becomes the number of votes they have in council, as the winners become proxies for their supporters. At that time it was described as the only theoretically-exact system of representation proposed yet. (Carroll (Iowa) Herald, April 24, 1872)
The system is simpler than STV. Voters do not need to ran candidates. The only added feature for them over and above FPTP is to consider whether or not the route of vote transfer indicated by their first choice candidate, if the candidate cannot be elected or accumulates surplus, is acceptable. If not, the voter should choose a different first choice candidate or still vote for the candidate but be prepared to write in a different choice on his ballot. Unlike party-list pro-rep it allows flexibility to voters. Voters can have their vote transferred across party lines if desired. Unlike both FPTP and STV, the vote can be transferred to a candidate outside the district. This accomplishes some of the benefits of the multi-member district of STV.
Unusually, the voter and government authorities have no way of knowing how many will be elected in each district. The practical maximum would be four persons but likely would be no more than three. But could also be as few as two or even one perhaps. The uncertainty could be lessened by raising the quota to 26 percent, whereby three at the most could be elected in each district.The number of seats a party wins would not be evidence of its power. The members would wield not one vote per head in the chamber as current practice but as many "proxy" votes as they accumulated in the election. So if the system was used today, the MPs in the Canadian House of Commons would have some 18M proxy votes.The quota (20 percent) is arbitrary and would be a different number of votes in each district. The use of districts allows different size districts and would allow rural/urban, Centre/hinterland disparity if desired. Gerrymandering is less important because votes can flow across district boundaries. As well, no minorities trapped in districts will be drowned out, and no surplus majorities wasted. No votes would be exhausted under this system.Every district could elect multiple members depending on the distribution of the vote. So minorities would be represented. A voting block of 20 percent of the voters of a district - the quota of a four-seat STV district - would send a representative to the chamber.
Electing a living breathing representative would not the basis of the election. At least one person would be elected in each district - at least in the present environment. One candidate at least does receive 20 percent of the vote in a district. But that representative would not have just one vote in the chamber – he/she would have as many votes as received in the end.Every vote (eventually) becomes an effective vote.
As for the goal "That the majority of Parliament represent the majority of the electors" is guaranteed. But the standing in the House would not necessarily reflect first choice votes. The flexibility accorded candidates to allocate transfers, and the flexibility accorded voters likewise, would determine the number of proxy votes and they would not be necessarily along party lines of first choice votes. (The same "unproportional" but democratic voting is produced under STV but often overlooked there).
For example, if a voter has strong local attachment, he might indicate the possible transfer of his vote to another local candidate of a different party instead of transferring along party lines to a party candidate outside the district. This liberty would safeguard local representation if voters desire.As well, despite the common idea of majority representation, the majority of seats in the parliament, which are truly elected by a majority of voters, would not be of just one party, that is, unless a single party took a majority of the vote. False majorities would be prevented. No party would have more votes in the chamber than its support warranted.
Wrong majorities - where a party with but minority support captured a majority of the seats in the chamber - would also be prevented. The majority under-represented in those cases would itself have the majority of votes in the chamber. Although the majority would be be spread over two or more parties.
Section 21 [Interactive Representation] states "The side on any division [vote in the House] that has the highest aggregate number of votes shall be considered a majority of the House." This is already the working procedure in the House. It is said that a government needs a majority in the chamber to pass a bill. But this is not established once and then taken as a given. Each bill is voted on by those in attendance at that moment. The term majority really just means more votes than those of the other side. This would be the case too under this plan. If a party receives a majority of the vote after transfers are worked through, it would have a majority of the votes in the chamber. If all its members attended sessions, it would be assured of passing bills.
Related stories sourced in these places:
Proxy Plan (interactive representation) Robert Tyson, "Proportional Representation" by, GGG, Aug. 7, 1912, page 10, page 33
1912 Oregon vote New York Times, June 30, 1912 "Government by Proxy Now. Oregon Pan would Present Ideas of Representative lawmaking"
[B5 (below) has more notes]
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S6. "Canadian Home Rule..." (page 39 to page 44)
"Act relating to the Electoral franchise ..." page 45
[expanded notes below in Broad notes section - see B6]
universal adult suffrage page 41
local authorities in charge of drawing boundaries of federal electoral districts page 41
"No system whereby the whole people of Canada would have equal representation can be conceived, even theoretically, if it is defined to mean the representation of each and every individual elector, and his private and peculiar opinions on each and every subject."
A series of run-off elections would determine the successful candidates
Writer called for creation of a Director General, sort of a commissioner at the federal level, an un-elected official appointed by parliament and answerable to parliament. And creation of appointed Councillors of State that would constitute an executive council, which would combine the functions and powers of the present Cabinet and Privy Council. A decade or more after the book's publication, appointed commissioners would be adopted at the municipal level, and even some elected commissioners, (but never at the higher levels of governments in Canada).
S7. "Per Asperam ad Astra" (page 50 to page 56)
[expanded notes below in Broad notes section - see B7]
what is representation? page 50
following essentials: page 51
changes required page 53
BILL TO REFORM THE SYSTEM ... page 55
Proposes multi-layered quota-based party-list pro-rep. (with straight non-transferable votes)
A variation is offered in the broad notes for this essay below
The questions that this essay professes to answer therefore may briefly be stated as follows:
(1). What are the functions of a complete representative system?
(2). In what particulars and to what degree does the existing system fall short of the purposes for which it was instituted ?
(3). To what causes are the deficiencies of the present system due?
(4). By what means can these deficiencies be rectified?
... The first essential representative government therefore is that it should be popular government — that it should realize as far as possible that ideal form in which the people manage the affairs of the people.
Proposes series of elections each quota-based candidate-based elections (with straight non-transferable votes). Each series elects a smaller number of representatives with wider range of hitherto-unrepresented voters. Until all voters except members of groups less than quota size have found representation. [no indication how many rounds of voting are entailed, nor does the writer seem to understand that successful candidates will be elected by more than quota, thus causing waste through un-needed surpluses.]
[Tom Monto would recommend a variation of this plan:
District-level elections. Elections at this layer would elect about 240 MPs: multi-member district elections using STV and single-member districts where sparse population prevent grouping of districts.
At-large level: the overall party vote tallies would be used to allocate 100 seats. Each two percent of the overall vote in the district-level elections would elect two of these seats. [pro-rep top-up but not compensatory]
As well, voters would cast transferable votes in a third layer: This would be a party-level vote using Alternative Voting. The five most popular parties from the previous election would be in the running. Votes cast one vote each ranking up to four parties. Least-popular parties are eliminated with their votes transferred to next choices. A party has to accumulate majority of votes to form government. That party, if it does not have at least a majority of two seats from the district and at-large elections, would be given enough top-up MPs to have a majority of two in the chamber.]
It is now generally conceded that the true basis of representation is population. (page 52)
Districts should be abolished...
The following changes are necessary:
(1). Every elector should have an opportunity to vote for a successful candidate.
(2). Abolition of constituencies.
(3). Division of electors into electoral groups based on numbers, not land.
(4). Abolition of election by majority vote, and establishment of a quota of votes, which it will be necessary for the candidate to obtain in order to be elected. This would be ascertained by dividing the total number of electors by total number of representatives.(5). Abolition of localization of votes, and adoption of a system that would enable elector to vote for candidate in any part of country.
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S8. In Deo Spero [a Canadian] page 57-70
The Representation Act page 68
[history of responsible government in England, starting with antique peoples]...if women are subject as men to laws, they might have some voice in the election of law-makers.
The idea at the base of representation being that all classes have a voice in what concerns all, that which is injurious to the state be removed by parliament, and what is of benefit should be constructed, that the wants of a society running in advance of law should be supplied by legislation potential with a sanction; law then becomes what it should be, "the embodied conscience of a nation of persons."
...One of the greatest evils that eats into the inner heart's core of modern politics is what we know as "government by party," or if you will, "government by majorities" so called.
the weapons of war by "party" should long ago have been quietly laid in the museum of political curiosities. (page 61)
In truth, the falsity of representation as it is, and particularly of representation by majorities as they now are, is a lie, and "no lie rots away till its work is done.
"...A brutal majority may proclaim that white is black, but no numerical force or counting by heads can make it true. (page 64)
Power by no means carries truth in its embrace, as a vital necessity, anymore than do mere numbers. ...the ruling minds are most often the minority of a minority....In our system the melancholy minority on the floor of the House keep company with their miserable friends who are a minority outside the House....
the Swiss have, in conjunction with a wide suffrage, what is known as the "Referendum." That is, bills passing the assembly are referred directly to the whole electorate and are often rejected by large majorities.
[glossary of different types of electoral systems]
A majority of electors in each constituency is by no means the same as a majority of all the electors.
STV explained
[Sterne's STV system - a multi-vote cumulative vote system]
Writer endorsed STV.
also endorsed ability of voter to vote for any candidate anywhere, not just in voter's district, but says "Canada is not yet ready for such an experiment."
Plan:
Quota arrived at one month prior to election using votes cast at previous election throughout jurisdiction divided by number of open seats (Hare quota) used to establish Uniform Quota.
Writer is ambiguous in his instructions to the voters calling on them to mark with crosses the candidates in order of preference, which seems impossible. Surplus votes to be transferred to next preference, even one outside the district.Voters able to vote for candidates outside the district.
This process "to be done till all candidates eligible through obtaining the required Quota are disposed of."
Apparently there would be no elimination of lowest ranking candidates.
Writer admitted "I have spent a great deal of time in considering what is to be done with the surplus or unused votes in any constituency after the return of a candidate is arrived at. There will likely be many such, which as a fact are left in the "air" and utterly wasted. After considering it anxiously in every light I can arrive at no solution satisfactory to my mind..."
========================
S9. Pacifico [Californian, probably San Francisco,
with knowledge of political reforms in Australia - he references Spence in one place (p. 82)] page 71
CHAPTER I. A PRIORI NEGATIVE DEMONSTRATION page 71
Current district-based elections allow wrong majorities. Writer provides example of unfairness possible under FPTP: seven constituencies, each having 7,000 voters. Four have slight "a" majorities; three have 100 percent of voters in favour of "b."
Thus, 16,000 "a" voters would electing 4 members, and 33,000 "b" voters electing only 3 members, so that less than a third of the voters elect a majority of the so-called "representatives."
Chapter II. A Posteriori Demonstration; The "Majority Rule" Myth page 72
A minority of voters, or a small majority, elect all the legislators in nearly every case... even those voters who do elect only have a choice of evils, they are forced not to vote for the candidate they prefer but the least objectionable of the winnable candidates.
Outlines different measures of the un-representativeness of FPTP
Such as in one district a candidate receiving 2x of votes is defeated while a candidate who received x votes in another district is elected.
Overall, a majority of the representatives in a chamber sometimes actually have only the support of less than a quarter of the voters.
This is made even less representative when a two-thirds majority is required to pass a significant piece of legislation, such as a constitutional amendment. In this case, less than 20 percent of the vote can hold up legislation approved by other legislators supported by 80 percent of voters.When the elected representatives are supported by only a bare majority of the voters, if that even, when it comes down to division in the chamber on a vote, it is possible only 3-5ths of the legislature, supported by only about 30 percent of the voters, holds power. Writer also states that at-large elections are unrepresentative. But writer did not notice that those elections were conducted using Block Voting.
"Until we have complete proportional representation, independent of parties, mere changes in party names or the organization of new parties will accomplish little."
[The formation of the Alberta Party and its shut-out in the 2019 Alberta election despite receiving 10 percent of the votes supports this statement. The entry of the United Farmers of Alberta into politics and their almost immediate victory in 1921 is a case against this statement.]
Political science today is where physical science was in the 15th Century; it hardly exists.
Chapter III. Direct Legislation page 74
This is accomplished negatively by the Referendum, positively by the Initiative. At first sight, the two together, with the power of recalling a member on demand of a majority of his local constituency [Recall], might seem to be sufficient...
the necessary collective business of any municipality, state, province or nation, to be provided for by general enactment, would be too great and diversified to be handled advantageously, or even possibly, by the whole mass of voters....
Public business needs to keep pace with industrial changes. Progress in any direction necessitates differentiation. ...
The purpose, however, of conventions, as of any similar body, legislature or parliament, was to consult, deliberate and decide with a view to practical action. Hence the members of such bodies should as nearly as possible represent the general views of those who sent them, concentrating their efforts on devising such measures as would carry out these views, subserving the interests and securing the approval of their constituents.
"Direct legislation" cannot meet these requirements; proportional representation can.... where there is any opportunity (as there always would be under proportional representation) to select a few competent and reliable men, it is much easier to do so than to decide upon the merits of many measures. That voters feel they are unable to render sound decisions on a specific bill is shown by votes on referendums being consistently lower than turn-out for elections.
"Obligatory" referendum (page 76), where legislation passed by the legislature must be put to voters in a referendum before becoming law.
..."It is a fundamental necessity for effective work [in the legislatures] not only that public and collective business should be transacted by agents, but that these agents should be chosen in such a manner as to secure the most capable persons, fairly and fully representing not merely a party, fraction of a party, clique or "ring," but the whole body of the constituents. That is, they should be actually, and not merely nominally, representatives.
"...Another serious objection to the efficiency of the Initiative is that to formulate any measure by that means, some person or persons must be selected or empowered to draft it by some irregular process,...
These persons would be no more "representative" of the community generally, or of any portion of it than the average legislator but would probably be less so, being liable to be composed of the scum that usually rises to the top in times of excitement. ...
What security would there be that the persons so selected would not be the worst enemies of the proposed measures, secretly paid by powerful classes opposed to it to introduce some provision fatal to its efficacy or constitutionality..
A bill presented for direct vote of the people can only be voted on by ayes and noes, amendments and substitutes being out of the question...
As to the experience of Switzerland, direct legislation would naturally work better in a small and nearly stationary population,..
And even in Switzerland, Direct Legislation is beginning to pale, and three cantons "have in succession adopted a form of proportional representation that admits of parties being represented measurably in proportion to the number of voters in each party."
The Imperative Mandate [the recall] may be regarded as a species of direct legislation, consisting in the power of a majority of the voters in any elective body to recall a member with whose course they are dissatisfied. Whatever benefit could be accomplished thereby has been reached in Switzerland by the Referendum and Initiative, so that in that country it is no longer mentioned.
As it can only be used by a majority in a district, it is incompatible with a representation of the whole body of voters, and would make political agitation incessant and intrigues without end. I am not aware that it has ever been put in practice, and may be regarded as a political fossil.
Chapter IV. The Cumulative Vote page 77
Voters cast multiple votes, which can be spread over many candidates or lumped together on one.Thus it entails multiple-member districts."...
Sir Rowland Hill, the father of cheap postage, in 1840 drafted a form of organization for the municipality of Adelaide, South Australia (which colony was then new). It included a provision for cumulating the vote in the election of 20 town councillors, so that one-twentieth of the voters, by concentrating their twenty votes apiece on one man, could elect him. This was before the secret ballot was introduced, and hence it could be known when any candidate had been elected in time to avoid any waste of votes on him. [Somehow assuming the voter could know the total count to derive the one-20th amount.]...
In 1868 it was advocated in the United States by U.S. Senator Buckalew. In 1870 it was used to elect members of school boards in Great Britain, and has been so used ever since [at least up to 1893].It was introduced for the election of members of the House of Assembly in Illinois, in districts returning three members each. It is still so used... [However] it perpetuates the evils of party rule by the fact that nearly all votes are wasted that are not cast for one or the other of two leading parties.
"Cumulative Voting often causes wastage from surplus votes going to one candidate.
As well, in a sample cumulative election nearly a third of the votes cast were wasted on unsuccessful candidates.
Chapter V. The Free Ticket or List page 78
Proposed as early as 1844, adopted by three Swiss cantons in 1890-1892
Quota derived, through Hare or Droop or combined with cumulative voting (entailing fractional votes)seats allocated to parties based on quotas worth of votes received, with additional members allocated based on largest fractions of the quota left over or to the party with largest vote count as done in one Swiss canton, Ticino.
Multiple-member districts used. In Ticino, districts returned from 5 to 15 members....
In each case the candidates elected on each list are those receiving the highest numbers, the voter signifying his preference for candidates at the same time as he votes for the list. In Geneva "In September 1890 there were armed conflicts in Geneva canton resulting in the death of one prominent politician caused by a inequality of representation with one party held out of the proper Representation.
Foreshadowing how proportional representation would be used in Ireland and in Manitoba in times of trouble circa 1919, it was adopted to achieve peace between the parties.
"Proportional Representation is peace."
Chapter VI. The Preferential Plan page 79
The preferential method of proportional representation - the step by step process
1. Each voter shall have one vote, but may vote in the alternative for as many candidates as he pleases. by writing the figures 1, 2, 3, etc., opposite the names of those candidates in the order of his preference.
2. The ballot papers having been all mixed, shall be drawn out in succession and stamped with numbers, so that no two shall bear the same number.
3. The number obtained by dividing the whole number of good ballot papers tendered at the election by the number of trustees to be elected shall be called the quota. If such number has a fraction, such fractional part shall be deducted.
4. Every candidate who has a number of first votes equal to, or greater than, the quota, shall be declared to be elected. So many of the ballot papers containing those votes as shall be equal in number to the quota shall be set aside as the quota of that candidate, in a sealed envelope, and sealed and signed by the judges of election. On all other ballot papers, the name of such elected candidate shall be cancelled, with the effect of raising by so much in the order of preference, all votes given to other candidates after him.This process shall be repeated until no candidate has more than a quota of first votes, or votes deemed first.
5. Then the candidate or candidates having the fewest first votes, or votes deemed first, shall be declared not to be elected, with the effect of raising so much in the order of preference all votes given to candidates after him or them, and Rule 4 shall be again applied, if possible.
6. When by successive application of Rules 4 and 5, the number of candidates is reduced to the number of trustees remaining to be elected, the remaining candidates shall be declared elected.
The only objections made to it worth considering are these:
1. Complexity. [But] It is much more simple in its working than in its description.
2. It has been objected, in the case of the Mechanics' Institute election, that two candidates not elected, were on more ballots, including sixth and seventh choice, than others who were elected. However, writer looked at first two rankings on the ballots, and those elected had more than those who were not elected.
3. Chance. Chance effects of random vote transfer under STV is not a serious problem, said writer.
The Gove Plan page 83
[Brief description of the Gove Plan, also known as Dobbs plan. put forward by John M. Berry of Massachusetts for election of State Senators. It is similar to STV as there would be a quota of votes needed to be elected. Under it a transfer of surplus votes or those belonging to eliminated candidates are transferred to destination pre-set by candidate. And then transferred on until finding placement with a candidate not yet elected. [Only a few would be wasted at the end.]
Mentions that Sandford Fleming devoted six pages of his 1892 Appeal for Essays on Rectification of Parliament to Berry's proposal. [see essay #10 for more info.)]
Chapter VII. General Considerations page 84
..."Purify politics by making representation accessible to all. Do justice politically to all. Then the tendency will be upwards and onwards — a real, and not merely material advancement."
APPENDIX. "Draft Bills" for "The Best Workable Measures." [as solicited in Sandford Fleming's An Appeal of the previous year] page 84
Essential portions of this bill with some modifications.
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. An Act to provide for the election of members of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly.
Pro-rep in Municipal Elections
========================
S10. Southern Cross [Catherine Helen Spence] p. 90
There is little doubt that the writer of this essay is Catherine Helen Spence, life-long STV advocate in Tasmania, South Australia. She identifies herself as daughter of early town clerk of Adelaide (page 95) and organizer of many lectures and mock STV elections.
[Table of contents]
Chapter I. Importance of the Subject page 90
Chapter II. Method of Voting and Formation of the Quota page 96
Chapter III. Objections Answered page 100
Chapter IV. Effective Voting page 106
Chapter V. Palliatives - The Initiative and the Referendum -the Imperative Mandate - Direct Legislation page 111
Chapter VI. Conclusion page 113
Chapter VII. DRAFT BILL FOR THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA page 117---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spence in her submission to Sandford Fleming's appeal for essays on rectification of Parliamentsays Adelaide first used preferential voting in 1840 then after a crisis hit the early colony it stopped holding elections and after resuming such did not resume preferential voting (p. 95)
later South Australia ?? adopted STV for multi-member districts, electing six members each, but due to retirement by rotation District Magnitude did not generally exceed two.she took it up as her cause and held many demonstration elections
method of holding these and instructions to voters on page 95
Spence's demonstration elections elected six. This mimicked the six council seats that Adelaide had at the time, although in the real elections there were three districts each electing two.
12 candidates running. Spence used names of local candidates. If the demonstration was held in a country or suburban district, she used names of the local candidates plus names of candidates in adjoining districts. There was thereby some localism and the choice was extended.Voters could mark only up to 6 preferences.
"Towards the end of the scrutiny there are always some votes that cannot be allocated, because they are given for men already in, or impossible to get in" (p. 98)
"Mr. Hare allows of an approximate [less than full] quota for the last man or men who get returned." (p. 98)
----------------------------------------
"The single transferable vote gives a certainty of effective representation to every citizen." (page 95-96)
Justice to each, justice to all, is the vital principle on which society should be built, and our political methods have long obscured this truth from our eyes. page 96
-----------------------------------------------------
presents rationale for quota
endorses Hare's "simple natural quota"
recounts how transfers arising from "surplusages" and "minus votes" (eliminations) are dealt with
says more wasted under Droop than Hare. Perhaps this is due to more transfers being done under Droop and to more exhausted votes for that reason. Perhaps the number of actual "utter failures" is not so large.
Spencer noted "It is true that in neither case are the votes really wasted as they are under majority representation necessarily and in enormous numbers, but after trying both ways, we found the simple quota the best."
[many votes that are exhausted are so because they are marked for candidates who are already elected. The voter of such has the satisfaction of seeing his preferred candidate elected even though his vote had not been required to assist the candidate to do so.] (page 98)
The adoption of the single transferable vote would have saved all this waste, given a more accurate presentment of the wishes of the elector, and have been simpler for voters and scrutineers. [Under FPTP] The voter works in the dark, he may give unnecessary votes to make his favourite candidate safe, or he may believe him safe when he is not so, and direct his voting power to an inferior. (page 100)
Chapter I. Importance of the Subject page 90
Equal representation would prevent this anomaly. It would give power to the real majority, control to the minority, and a just representation to all. (page 92)
...in the opinion of thinking people, under present conditions, Parliament is not rightly organized or equitably worked; that it does not give efficient representation to the people, or provide an efficient spur or check to the executive.
...We must therefore enquire how we may change or modify our representation so as to make it more truly represent the people, and to make parliament more amenable to the best public opinion, and helpful rather than hampering to any honest executive.
... we shall do no good by harking back to old limitations of the suffrage, and allowing property and intelligence additional weight at the polls. [This was direct refutal of some of the elements put forward in the essay written by Nulla Vestigia Retrorsum on page 6-7.]
All that is wanted is the machinery that will give the better elements adequate expression, and full liberty of speech and action...
[A democratic state] regards all men as politically equal, and rightly so, if the equality is as real in operation as it is in theory...
in despotisms and oligarchies, where the majority are unrepresented and the few extinguish the many, ... taxes fall heavily on the poor for the benefit of the rich and powerful, and the only check proceeds from the fear of rebellion...
Therefore, it is incumbent on all democracies to look well that their representative systems really secure the political equality they profess to give, for until this is done, democracy has had no fair trial...
"One man, one vote" is not democratic enough. "One vote, one value" is the real key-stone of democracy.
Equality means that every man's vote shall have its weight, whatever majority or minority he may belong to, and wherever he may happen to live.
Equal representation ... would give power to the real majority, control to the minority, and a just representation to all. (page 92)...
In England there has been in the past such a representation of different classes and opinions, that the idea found favour that the general average gives a fair representation of the whole people. We see however, that with the extension of the suffrage, labour, which was inarticulate in the past, is finding a voice for itself, and no longer depends on the utterances of kindly men of a different class. This voice will become stronger in the United Kingdom as time rolls on....
The U.S. law preventing a man from offering himself for any district in which he does not reside, is most mischievous, because if he is thrown out in his own electorate, he cannot try another.
There were thousands in San Francisco, and tens of thousands in California who would have voted for [a California reformer] expressly on account of these views, but not a safe majority in any district. [So he could get elected in no single district.]
...While life becomes daily more complex, and political, moral and social questions are felt to be inextricably interwoven together; while philosophy takes wider and deeper views; while history is being rewritten in every succeeding generation, and while neither courts nor camps nor parliaments are held as including the whole life and development of a people, why should the representative machinery be constructed on a merely dual basis?..
...Jeremy Bentham made a great stride in politics and morals, when he advocated the greatest happiness of the greatest number, for, before his time the few were considered and the many ignored....
[But] The modern spirit feels that the greatest happiness even of the greatest number ought not to be sought at the cost of the happiness of the smallest number. ...Utopian, Quixotic, theoretical, illusory, and absurd, are the terms bestowed on much that, if carried out at the time (1789), might have saved France. But safe and lasting reforms are seldom effected in the throes of revolution.
...in some British colony inheriting the elastic traditions of England, and not bound by a written constitution like America, the radical reform of enfranchising the whole people might be inaugurated.
[Spence's memories of the start of pro-rep in South Australia] page 95
There is a common confusion of ideas between the function of the majority in the election of representatives, and the function of the majority in the Parliament itself. In a deliberating body of representatives, the majority must rule and ought to rule.
...the word representation means a re-presentment, as in a mirror, of the opinions, the principles, and the aspirations of the whole people and not of a mere section of the people, as is the case under plurality elections. (page 96)
...Far more stability would be obtained by equal representation, than by the most scientific mode of ascertaining the absolute majority in uninominal districts, which short-sighted people fancy is democratic....Politics can only be purified by making the representation equitable.
Chapter II. Method of Voting and Formation of the Quota page 96
Demonstration STV elections conducted at lectures page 96-98
Instructions to voters
MEMO. [simple explanation of STV for participants take-away]
[STV metaphor: Three brothers sending a messenger to lending library to pick up library books. This is useful, because whichever brother gets the library book, they all get to read it, and the messenger would pick up other books for the other brothers anyway. If one candidate is elected with a surplus, all get benefit of his election but with their votes not wasted they can go to help elect others like-minded representatives as well.
Spence provided the parallel of STV voting. You send a messenger to a lending library and if the most wanted book is not available then the messenger passes down the list to the next preference.She extended this to the case of three brothers - Tom, Dick and Harry - who live together. All cannot have same book but if one gets the book they all want, they can all read it when it gets home. and the messenger would pick up other books for the other brothers anyway. The messenger then passes on to the next preference listed by the other two brothers. In the same way a candidate whom we prefer who is elected by the votes of our friends is as serviceable to us as if we voted for him ourselves. Because our own vote is not used for this candidate after his quota was complete, our own vote is not wasted but transferred to the next man. If our vote instead of being wasted is used to help elect a similar-thinking candidate, then our friends and ourselves get benefit of electing both. (page 97-98)
[Spence's reflections on demo elections]
Massing together the results of the small meeting demo elections 98-101
Different methods in dealing with Quota page 98
I. Hare quota page 98
II. Mathematical quota [Droop Quota
III. The Liste or party ticket system used in three Cantons of Switzerland [Block Voting
IV. Advocates of proportional representation in Belgium and Switzerland extoll D'Hondt system
V. Tuckerman's plan [AKA Broda count]
VI. The Gove System page 99 [see Pacifico's essay for more info on this reform]
VII. The Danish electoral law
VIII. Limited Vote
[IX.] [Cumulative Vote - how STV is better]
Chapter III. Objections Answered page 100
[She ably defended STV from the following objections:]
I. The method was too difficult for the voters, and too complicated for the scrutineers.
II. Uncertainty in allocating surplus votes
III. Uncertainty of result. This would be emphasized by party machine, but "effective voting would have the element of certainty that the people would be really represented"
IV. That it will be impossible to form a strong government under proportional representation.the party government is essentially the weak government.
V. There would be a difficulty in case of a by-election caused by death or resignation of one member of a large constituency.
VI. How shift the boundaries? "I should not suggest shifting boundaries at all, for that lends itself to dishonest gerrymandering. ...The larger electorate will be more stable "
VII. delocalising politics, or otherwise under STV causing disinterest in politics
Our personal interests are, however, watched by people who have interests in other directions, while our class and local interests are flattered, exaggerated, intensified, by the public opinion that is nearest to us.
Local representation will still happen under STV, although more standing will be given to successful candidates.
"An elector chosen by a quota of the ninth part of the votes of all Liverpool would occupy a higher position in public estimation and in his own, than one elected by a bare majority in a ninth part of that great city." (page 104)
VIII. Some fear that a strong government cannot be maintained under pro-rep
but under present system perpetual reign of see-saw
[Set term of service for government cabinet ministers][Spence proposed an unusual reform:] cabinet ministers would be elected by the parliament, to hold office for a session. Up for election at the start of each session. This would remove the present state of antagonism between the Government and the Official opposition. "A great part of each parliamentary session in the Australian colonies is often spent in trying to unseat the cabinet."
Better work would be conducted if more time was given to work and less to wrangling for place.
IX. Large multi-member districts would be too large for personal canvassing. But few candidates would miss door-to-door canvassing. Under STV, he could target his message at supporters present and future.Spence did not like election deposits; instead favoured Open Candidature.
X. An objection originally made to Mr. Hare's vast scheme, that it would fill the House of Commons with faddists but all great ideas were once fads
Chapter IV. Effective Voting page 106
"... Truth [and political reform] must run the gauntlet of indolence and apathy, of prejudice and opposition, of vested interests and rooted traditions.
No ordinary newspaper [outside of South Australia] has taken hold of pro-rep and given it its due. page 106
I advocated proportional representation under the title of Effective Voting, [and found] everyone knew of how many votes were wasted at every election. Many knew instances where more votes were lost than were utilized.The reform goes under many names, preferential voting, equal representation, distributive voting, the Single Transferable Vote, representation of minorities. It deserves all these titles. It is equal because it is proportional; it is proportional because it is transferable; it represents minorities as fairly as majorities, it is worked by distributing surplus and minus votes preferentially. Because it is all these things it is effective. ...
nothing will come right unless those who feel that they have the truth, speak and work and strain....
It is easier for a good man to gain a quota in a large district than a plurality in a small one, and he is most likely to get it by the best means; by courage and sincerity, by character and abilities. It is easier for a bad man to get a plurality in a small district than a quota in a large one; and he may gain it by the worst means..."
"Until a radical reform like this is brought home to the people so strongly that they demand it, members of parliament do not care to touch it.
"When I advocated proportional representation under the title of Effective Voting, I caught hold of an experience that was familiar to all. Everyone knew of how many votes were wasted at every election, and many knew instances where more votes were lost than were utilized. The reform goes under many names, preferential voting, equal representation, distributive voting, the single transferable vote, representation of minorities, and it deserves all these titles.
It is equal because it is proportional;
it is proportional because it is transferable;
it represents minorities as fairly as majorities,
it is worked by distributing surplus and minus votes preferentially, and
because it is all these things it is effective.
It is no party weapon. It is equally just to all. It has thus the advantage of appealing to all parties alike. But it has the defect of its qualities. Because it does not promise any exclusive advantage to either of the great parties who have in the past exchanged place and power, neither of them are at all eager to take it up. The members of the legislatures who are now there, owe their position to majority or plurality representation.... " (page 107)
"If the people do not demand it with a very loud voice indeed, the ordinary political candidate will not touch it with the longest pair of tongs, and even men who believe in the principle hold it back, lest they should be stigmatized as theoretical and Utopian." (page 107)
...There are a few weaklings who may be cajoled, and a few crawlers who may be bought, by means of whom the scale may be turned in a uninominal [single-member] constituency, but they are an insignificant portion of any quota. (page 108)
[It is said] the evils of American political and municipal organizations are bound up with the spoils system. ...
In the [president's veto] as in many other respects, America is less democratic than England. ...
[But] If prohibitionists, Populists, Socialists, Single-taxers, and the great inarticulate Labour party would make common cause, and go on together till they secured honest representation, no party force or fraud could withstand them.......No party can return more representatives that its numbers entitle it to, and need not return fewer under Effective Voting. page 110
Spence pointed to group thought in politics in Canada: "In Canada the members sent to the Dominion Parliament were all Conservatives, while the Local Parliaments elected by the same votes were of the other side, because under a Conservative Ministry, there was more chance of grants if the locality supported them.
"...In New Zealand, in 1888, the Atkinson Ministry brought forward an electoral bill embodying Sir John Lubbock's modification of Hare's system, for districts returning from four to eight members, and taking his mathematical quota." But it did not pass.
[Contingent Vote in use in Queensland] page 110
[it is not democratic system] "It is intended to exclude everywhere and always all minorities. It was a conservative measure passed by a parliament where the capitalist party had the majority. It is designed to prevent earnest and compact minorities from obtaining a member that their numbers did not entitle them to."
[Run-off voting, in use in France]
[Pro-rep]
...If Canada takes the lead for the Dominion Parliament, which most needs the reform, it will be a more prominent example than can be furnished by a distant Australian province.
V. Palliatives - The Initiative and Referendum and the Imperative Mandate p. 111...[with pro-rep operating sufficiently] Nor would there be any need to refer to any plebiscite any measure that had passed both Houses of Legislature, when the really important House (the people's) really represented the whole people. The decision indoors will correspond with the convictions of the real majority out of doors. It will be argued better in a deliberative assembly than in the harangues and the rhetoric presented to a plebiscite.
It is noteworthy, too, that it is in Switzerland, where the Initiative is in operation, that there has risen an effective demand for proportional representation. (page 112)
There are far too many elections in America. The Initiative and, especially, the Referendum would indefinitely multiply them. page 113
The Imperative Mandate [the recall] may be regarded as a species of direct legislation. It consists in the power of a majority of the voters in any elective body to recall a member with whose course they are dissatisfied. Whatever benefit could bc accomplished thereby has been reached in Switzerland by the Referendum and Initiative, so that in that country it is no longer mentioned. As it can only be used by a majority in a district, it is incompatible with a representation of the whole body of voters, and would make political agitation incessant and intrigues without end. I am not aware that it has ever been put in practice, and may be regarded as a political fossil.
[Direct election of U.S. president and U.S. Senators]
Chapter VI. Conclusion page 113
...less than twenty percent of the vote elected the working majority in the Canadian Parliament.
[STV's advantage to the majority]under STV the majority can make sure of having honest representatives.The second advantage to the majority would be that they would hear all sides of public questions, and that objections to their party measures would have to be met fully and fairly.
on account of this interdependence, this inextricable complexity of human motives and actions that the exclusively dual character of political representation is so misrepresentative of modern society. page 116
Under proportional representation there will be more and more liberty given to individual thought in parliament. This will react on the people outside.
How often is it necessary to remind the world that national organizations do not exist for the advantage of practical politicians, or merely to suit their convenience, but that politicians exist for the sake of the nation?
Chapter VII. DRAFT BILL FOR THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA page 117
Legislative Council of South Australia.
Appendix I. [STV elections in Australia] page 120
Appendix II. [filling up a vacancy] page 121(*on page 95 writer identified herself as daughter of early town clerk of Adelaide)
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S11. Equality [a U.S. writer] page 122-184
[CHAPTER I Introduction]
Representative government is a series of mechanical devices that in modern civilized countries performs two functions.
First, by means of it the electors of a county, nation, district or city, unable on account of their great numbers, to meet together for purposes of legislation, attempt to delegate the law-making power to a limited number of persons.
Second, the persons thus delegated have opportunities for information, deliberation and wise judgment, superior to what the busy people themselves could obtain were they assembled in mass meeting.
[Why Greece and Rome never adopted this device of representation] [Ancient Athens and Greece]...
The consolidation of tribes and principalities into kingdoms and nations has been the result of conquest. Representative government has arisen, not as a device for promoting this consolidation, but as a result of it, in order to protect the people against the oppression of a military conqueror and his successors. It was the sufferings they endured from a common oppressor that drew them together in common opposition.
[The Roman republic][England -- the world looks to England for the origin of true representative government]
[The colonial history of the United States] p. 129
[in 1638, proxy votes in Maryland used instead of elected representation] p. 129
elections established in the next year but with strange allowance made for minorities: after the election, one person at least came forward and claimed the right of appearing in person, on the ground that he had voted in the minority, and so was not represented. he was allowed to attend deliberations.
Also appointed members were allowed to flood into the chamber of elected representatives. [TM: This was in fact also the case in early politics of the old North West Territories. In 1883 finally the number of elected representatives outnumbered the number of appointed members. For elected members, instead of the appointed lieutenant-governor, to control the agenda of the chamber and its finances was a longer fight.]
...In Virginia representative institutions sprang suddenly into full being without the preliminary transition from a primary assembly in 1619......
Representation in the colony of Plymouth went through a process of development like that in Maryland, says Doyle: "A primary assembly was superseded by a system of representation, and there was a period of transition, during which the two were in the same measure combined. .. page 131
In the colony of Massachusetts Bay... The legislature of the colony was simply the general court of the company transferred across the Atlantic. ...A further step towards self-government was taken in the resolution that every town should appoint two representatives to advise the governor and assistants on the question of taxation. ... It was in Connecticut that the origin of representative government first appears as a federation of independent towns, rather than a delegation of local representatives to resist a central authority. page 132
...The other colonies passed through similar experiences.
[Canada]The development of representative institutions in Canada was like that in the United States in its ultimate results, but in its origin there was nothing like the primary assembly or local self-government.
The people took no part in government. Consequently new arbitrary territorial divisions were created for parliamentary purposes without reference to previous organizations. [TM: Hence the start of arbitrary electoral districts with little presence on the ground] page 133
[Comparison between the circumstances and problems of its origin and those of 1893]
...the very nature of representation itself has changed in company with other social and political changes.
1. Representation at first was not the representation of individuals, but of corporations and localities. in England, U.S. and Canada
2. On account of the long-developing organic nature of the whole English nation, many of the questions and policies that were considered in ancient times as local and class questions, and were treated by separate assemblies, are now national questions in which every citizen and every individual has a pressing interest. in England, U.S. and Canada
3. [modern growth of national political parties] Growing out of these historical conditions we can perceive the impressive significance of the modern growth of national political parties in England, and Canada political parties have sprung up.
in U.S. political parties have great power. They control both candidates and voters with an iron-like grip, and they glory in their subjection. These parties are not divided on territorial lines. They are divided, on national questions.
4. Furthermore, from the earliest times suffrage, both in England and the United States was narrowly limited.
5. Again, legislation in the olden times was very limited both in the number of subjects discussed and the details of the regulations.This puts more work on the elected representative. Britain they found good MPs in part from allowing liberty of representation. In Britain, people can be elected in district in which they they don't reside."To the American, bound by the three spirits of local pride, local spoils and democratic equality, this custom is incomprehensible."
[Britain] "So important is this principle as a relief from the restrictions of the district system [that is well entrenched]Historian Hearne stated:
"...The principle of residency was indeed inconsistent in two respects with our political development.
[1.] While this law was in force and the motives upon which it was founded were influential, no true conception could be formed of our national representation.
[2] Further, if it had been enforced, the great popular movement of the 17th Century would have wanted its most prominent intellectual leaders. In the time of the Tudors and for some time afterwards, none of the country gentlemen had or could acquire any political skill. Statesmanship was then exclusively confined to the servants of the Crown. The country party was therefore obliged to seek its leaders from the Bar. For the most part the leaders thus chosen could not and did not reside in the towns that they represented..." [TM: NDP's much-respected Grant Notley was elected as MLA in the Peace River, where he did not reside. (He later moved there.) His active example in the legislature led eventually to his daughter's rise to the premiership in 2015.]
[The U.S. never suffered by the principle of residency] ... because political ability has always been more widely diffused
6. There is one feature that is important in its influence upon legislative bodies themselves [...] This is the private corporation with its professional lobby.
Municipal Legislatures [and the ward question]... the origin of representative assemblies in state and national governments depended upon the existence of local governments separated by wide territorial areas. This necessitated the adoption of what has become the district system of electing single delegates.Why this system should survive to the present day in the election of city legislatures is one of the enigmas of politics, ... there are not even historical reasons [to continue it]
...original city government was made up of officials and representatives of the townships (neighbourhoods), wards.
But historically the merchant guild formed the city government then with the development of trades they too took seats. morphing into system that included aldermen representing the guilds, councillors representing wards ( the old townships/neighbourhoods)
"The question arises, how did it come about that so rational a system as the election of aldermen by the different organized interests of the cities should have been displaced by the arbitrary system of election by territorial districts? The answer is brief. The ancient system itself was practically an election by wards, because the different trades were all grouped together, each in its own district of the city. And when the federation of guilds was abolished and elections thrown open to a widened suffrage, it seemed wholly natural to continue that district system, which was seen to be in vogue elsewhere."
[the history of Boston shows development of municipal electoral systems]
Aldermen and councillors do not represent wards — they represent the city.
CHAPTER II. THE FAILURE OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES page 139
the failure lies mainly in this unnatural partition into petty districts.At all levels of government distrust of elected representatives have fuelled moves to strengthen the executive branch, the veto of governors and presidents.
Reluctantly as it may be, judges have more and more assumed the right to set aside legislative enactments....These tendencies to restrict the legislature that are showing themselves so unmistakably, and this demoralization of legislative bodies, must be viewed as the most alarming features of American politics. Just as the duties of legislation are increasing as never before, in order to meet the growing vital wants of a bewilderingly complex civilization, the essential organs for performing those duties are felt to be in a state of collapse...
...it is pertinent to enquire carefully into the fundamental nature of these institutions, the causes of their failures and the means, if any can be found, that will adapt them to the exigencies of modern times. ...... [the feature of the present system that most needs reform] is the system of electing each representative by a single district established on territorial lines.
CHAPTER III. The Single-membered District page 142
[The single-member district traps the voter with a limited choice]... If the voter is dissatisfied for any reason with the nominee of his own party, there are three courses open to him: - to vote for the opposing candidate, or- to vote for a third candidate, or - to stay at home. ......The great majority of the dissatisfied simply stay at home. .. [this accounts for the low turn-out under FPTP.]
party machines expect "most of the protesters will fall into line on election day rather than see the other party win."...Districts are bounded more or less arbitrarily, so as to include heterogeneous elements of population, and that boundaries are frequently changed, and we have an additional reason for the supremacy of the party organization....Our public officials instead of being elected by a majority of the voters, as is fondly supposed, are elected by a minority of a minority of a majority. And in case the election is determined by a plurality vote or a sufficiently large number of voters have absented themselves from the polls, the candidate is elected by a minority of a minority of a minority....Such a system results inevitably in the selection of weak and inefficient officers and representatives. ... [page 143]
Especially in close districts and wards, a compact faction bent on its own aggrandizement, can often name a candidate, or at least prevent the nomination of an outspoken and capable candidate.
Besides factions within the party lines, there is in the closer districts always to be found a number of voters who hold the balance of power between parties...Many an eminent leader in Congress, after serving a few terms and acquiring familiarity with the rules, and then becoming the recognized leader of his party, has been defeated in his district....our legislative bodies are composed of inexperienced men.A careful analysis of state legislatures in the U.S. will likely show that in every election at least one-half the representatives are new men, with no legislative experience....in all legislative bodies, the laws of the people are made by a majority who have never had any previous experience in law-making.
[The power of the Speaker of the House, and the power of the lobby]
...the supremacy of the Speaker is the lack of acquaintance with each other that exists among the members of the legislative bodies...The power of the lobby is found mainly in the fact of the party machine. The lobbyists are usually the managers of the machine. They control state and national party spoils and offices. [page 145]
[The District system and gerrymandering]......This danger was not imminent under the earlier conditions of representation, as has already been shown, when electoral districts were natural units and the problem of representation was the federation of local communities. ...
a minority of the popular vote obtains a majority of the representatives. [writer gives a couple examples how this comes about]...The gerrymander is not the iniquity of parties, it is the outcome of the district system. [page 146]
...Consequently every distribution act involves more or less of the features of the gerrymander.
The gerrymander consists simply in constructing districts in such a manner as to economize the votes of one's own party by giving them small majorities in a large number of districts, and cooping up the opposition party with overwhelming majorities in a small number of districts. [accounts of un-representational governments elected in 1880s in the U.S.] (page 147-150)
[proportional analysis of CANADIAN GENERAL ELECTIONS, 1891 AND 1887] page 151
Interesting results for England elections (page 152)[in all countries the people are not actually represented in their legislative assemblies.]...taking a nation as a whole, the gerrymanders of the U.S. do not affect the average result...[U.S. state elections results also disproportionate][U.S. municipal elections results also disproportionate]
CHAPTER IV. The General Ticket [Block Voting] page 153
Two applications in this system lead to important differences in the final results.
1. The first has been adopted in several instances in the U.S. in the election of Boards of county commissioners and Boards of Education, where the entire legislative assembly is elected on a single ticket [at-large]. With such a system the question of equal representation plays no part whatever.... he system usually results in the election of abler men than the district system. ...[Under the General Ticket and at-large elections] a party in making nominations for a large area cannot afford to nominate obscure men.
2. The second application of the general ticket is a combination of the district and the general ticket [Block Voting and multi-member districts that were larger than city or county districts as in the above example]. Districts are made larger and a solid delegation of from 5 to 20 representatives is sent to the legislature, representing of course only the majority or plurality party of their district.... [this might be a version of the regional representation contemplated in some MMP proposals]
[French Block-voting elections] page 155
CHAPTER V. Proportional Representation page 156
The General Ticket thus shows itself to be crude and barbarous. But it offers an opportunity to introduce with the very slightest of amendments what is destined to prove the most important reform in government since the invention of representation itself... This reform is simply the apportionment of representatives among the different parties on a general ticket in exact proportion to their popular vote...
The transition from the form of the present system is scarcely noticeable, but the transition from its essence is profound and far-reaching.
A BILL For the Election of Congressional Representatives by Pro-rep page 157
[The proposed plan involves multiple votes cast by each voter that he or she can place on one or several candidates [cumulative voting). They can be placed on party tickets or on individual candidates. To count the vote, the votes are collated together, and quota derived by dividing total votes by number of open seats (Hare quota). Party totals derived and any parties that do not have total vote of at least 85 percent of the quota are eliminated and their votes removed from reckoning. New total of votes derived and new quota. Seats allocated as per quota captured by each party, seats allocated in order of popularity of that party's candidates. If a vacancy opens no by-election is necessary to fill the seat - simply re-allocate the seat to the next most popular candidate of the same party. ]
... Every elector shall be entitled to two kinds of votes, namely: votes for tickets, known in this Act as "ticket votes" and votes for individual candidates, known in this Act as "candidate votes." The elector shall be entitled to a number of ticket votes equal to his lawful number of votes and also to a number of candidate votes equal to his lawful number of votes...
[Defence of the proposed bill] page 162
why a minority party should be excluded when its vote is less than 85 p.c. of quota.
In the first place, exact justice is impossible.
...it seems that the highest efficiency of government would be secured by preventing too excessive influence to petty minorities.it is not clear that the rule given works any injustice. [A party that received less than 85 percent of the quota is less worthy of a seat than a party with a large fraction of a quota. (This is because the larger party divides its total vote over the full quotas it has and the fractional remainder. Its average for each seat may be about 85 percent of the quota so the threshold prevents giving advantage to the smaller party.)]
Provision made to prevent an elector from losing any of his full number of lawful votes [were presented in the bill]
CHAPTER VI. ADVANTAGES OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION page 165
1. Pro-rep recognizes the nature of modern political problems page 165
2. The bill proposed is as simple as any that has been offered for effecting this kind of reform page 166
3. Pro-rep is eminently elastic in its adaptation to changes in population page 166
4. the justice and equality of pro-rep page page 166
It is held by most advocates of proportional representation that a voter is not represented unless the candidate is elected for whom he actually cast his vote. [Other constitutional restrictions on equality of representation] page 167
Senate versus House of Representative, etc.
5. Pro-rep promises independence of the voters and freedom from rule of the party machine page 167
Broda Count
[The natural grouping of free individuals under pro-rep] is far different from the iron-bound classification imposed by the modern highly-developed party machine. (p. 168)
...Freedom [from] the machine, then, means, first, power on the part of the voters to control the nominations of their party; and, second, power to defeat obnoxious candidates of their own party without endangering the success of the party. (p. 168)
[In Switzerland, where they do not use cumulative vote] the voter is constrained by the party machine (p. 168)a writer said in 1892: "It is only the fear of wasting their votes on good men who have no chance of winning that deters the people from voting against bad candidates who are forced upon them by the regular machine." (p. 171)
6. Pro-rep brings into legislative assemblies able and experienced men, the true leaders and representatives of their parties and the people page 173
Two features of proportional representation that permit the voters to discriminate between individuals, and to hold them, instead of parties, responsible page 175
The first is the fact that parties would not be defeated as a whole but would lose only a very small proportion of their representatives...
[Under pro-rep] If the majority party should be defeated, so slight is the change of votes — not more than 1 to 5 percent of the total votes — that usually the party would lose only one of its eight representatives [say of 15 elected to represent one state], and the other party would gain one, reversing, of course, the majorities. Under the single-member district system, a reversal of the popular vote of two percent may give catastrophic results. An entire party – the good and the bad together - may go down at once. A very moderate change of popular opinion is exaggerated into an avalanche.
The second feature of proportional representation gives them this power. Not only do electors give their votes for "tickets," but they may scatter their votes as they please among the individual candidates, and they may even cumulate all on one.
We have a sham representation. page 175
It gives a show of fairness. But it is crude and essentially unfair.
7. Pro-rep would purify elections by removing the most potent of inducements for bribery and corruption. page 176
...Inducements [toward corrupt and the bought vote] consist in the exaggerated influence of the purchasable vote in turning the scale...
The great majority of the district elections are close. Elections turn on very narrow margins. Mr. Berry says that a change of 1.5 percent, of the vote in 21 districts of Massachusetts would have turned the State senate over to the opposite party. The results of elections in general may be said to turn on the balance of power held by two or three percent of the voters...The purchasable vote makes up another similarly factional group... are amply sufficient in numbers to [change the result of elections]...under the district system elections offer the greatest inducements for bribery...With proportional representation there is no faction nor group that holds the balance of power. A change of 12 percent of the votes affects only 12 percent of the results....
8. Legislatures would become deliberative assemblies instead of arenas for party strife. page 176
Two objections against pro-rep:
it would do away with party responsibility it would give a small minority the balance of power and enable them to dictate legislation.
[Pro-rep allows solutions to clear moral issues to be compromised with benefit to all classes and individuals] page 176
In Switzerland "outside the ranks of party are always to be found groups of independents who care little for the personelle of candidates and party success, but more for principles and measures. In society at large they naturally hold the largest place. They hold the balance of power." page 176
As a matter of fact it will be found that very few of the questions of legislation are party questions. A great many are settled on lines of combination running across parties. The only strictly party questions are those concerned with the spoils and with suffrage legislation, such as "force bills" and gerrymanders, which threaten to deprive one party of its votes. ... page 177
At any given time the masses of the people will not permit radical far-reaching changes....
The people themselves differ so little that there is no danger of an intolerant and oppressive majority, providing all are equally represented.
Society is developing out of a primitive barbaric state where human rights were unknown, towards an era where the happiness, honour and dignity of man as such shall be recognized... (page 177)
the social body makes its growth through modifications of social institutions.
The fundamental nature of politics is not party strife or partisan victory, but compromise. There is a blindly accepted aphorism of Bentham's to the effect that the criterion of legislation is the greatest good to the greatest number. Strictly defined this is false.The true goal is the greatest good to all....
Does it follow, even, that compromise in its better sense will yield the greatest good to all?First, it should be remembered that not all progress is good or wise. Legislation is experiment.
[Secondly], in society at large, as has already been said, there are nearly always to be found two general groupings of individuals partaking more or less of the nature of parties, namely the party of order and the party of progress.
[Compromise, such as made possible by pro-rep, might have prevented U.S. Civil War] page 178
solutions to clear moral issues could be achieved through compromise with benefit to all classes and individuals page 179
Party lines would continue but not those artificial party lines perpetuated by party machines.
Indeed, pro-rep would bring forward the time of genuine reform. And this like the steady processes of nature. Reform movements would get a hearing while in their beginnings. page 180
Proportional representation was defended twenty years ago in the interests of the minority... It would protect the rich against confiscation by the mob. This was the idea of John Stuart Mill in his classical work on Representation. ... [But now] proportional representation is in the interests of the masses....
[Direct Legislation]Among the many projects for legislative reform that have been brought out by the recognized failure of representative assemblies, perhaps none is more extreme than the demand for so-called Direct Legislation....Inability to secure relief and redress [such as under the present system] would not be a justification for bloody revolution.
['Referendum' can also mean obligatory referendum] page 181
[The Swiss Direct Legislation is gateway to pro-rep]
Chapter VII Conclusion page 182
Appendix - (relating to page 162) page 183-184
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Notes on some of the essays in more depth than the chapter summaries above:
B5. Spero Meliora page 32 to page 38
This plan involved interactive representation (government by proxy) and delegated democracy (votes transferred according to wishes of votes, candidates or combination of both).
Proposes a plan that would ''give the whole people equal representation in Parliament." (page 32)
As, the writer postulates, "an elector should be represented in Parliament by a candidate whom he considers the best for the position and in whom he has implicit confidence," election of representatives through formed consensus under STV is not enough.
Hare STV is greatly preferable to the present system.
but has weak points:
A preferred system would be a form of party list pro-rep, proposed by the writer. Votes would be "added up and divide by the unit of representation the total number of votes cast for the candidates of the different political parties allowing each party its proportionate number of numbers. The objection to this plan is that it would draw the line between the parties even more intensely than at present. It would recognize party distinctions, which is one of the worst features of our political system." (page 32) [This is the obverse of the predicted action of STV. In some cases STV is expected to winnow out extreme party candidates and draw parties together. Although election of OBU-friendly candidates in Calgary in 1919 and the election of a Communist in Winnipeg about that time deflate that line of reasoning.]
Reforms put into place to secure fair voters list and to prevent employers barring employees from voting.
"A plan for Electoral Representation to work satisfactorily must harmonize with the following propositions:
- That the majority of Parliament represent the majority of the electors.
- That the minority of the electors have a proportionate voice in Parliament.
- That every vote should have its due weight in securing this result.
- That the ordinary elector can easily comprehend and practise the system of voting.
With these objects in view the writer proposes the plan of measuring the voting power of each member by the actual number of votes received, thus securing the principle of a member representing the actual number of electors who vote for him." (page 33)
Votes to be transferred from unsuccessful candidates in direction previously indicated by candidate before election, unless voter marks his single vote to be transferred elsewhere. (Section 9.(1).)
Arbitrary quota of 20 percent of district vote required to be elected. This can be first choice votes or combination of first choice votes and votes transferred as directed from candidates in or outside the district that did not receive 20 percent. Votes transferred away from unsuccessful candidates can go to a candidate outside the district. This breaks down the barrier to joint effort imposed by a district boundary dividing a voting block. Under this system, the voter would have less work than under STV. He does not need to rank candidates. The vote though, unless voter marks other destination, is lumped in with all the other votes the candidate receives. and all are shifted, if necessary, to just one destination. However, if the destination candidate has already been found to have 20 percent of the district vote, unlike STV the votes are shifted to the destination marked for that candidate's transfer and so on and so on until finally the vote finds a home with a successful candidate, either to help elect someone or to add to the candidate's vote tally.
Surpluses (votes over and above the 20 percent quota) are not transferred away. Votes, un-needed for the candidate's election, are not wasted though. They are added to the candidate's tally and go to give him more power in the House, through the Proxy plan described below.
System proposed:
"The name or names of Candidates to whom they are to be counted if the original candidate does not receive 20 percent of the total votes cast in the district either originally or by transference."
Election of any candidates that receive 20 percent of the vote in their respective districts.
Candidates eliminated in order of the district they run (in alphabetical order of name of district).
The only possibility where votes could be wasted is dealt with by this rule:
"Should two candidates who failed to receive the 20 percent quota be mutually mentioned as the alternative of each other on their respective ballots, the votes shall be counted to whichever candidate received the highest number of original votes." (page 37)
The proposal also included provision of Interactive Representation. Under this, the total number of votes received by a member elected after the final apportionment of votes shall be the member's voting power in Parliament. "In all divisions in the House of Commons each member shall vote the number of votes credited to him. The side on any division [vote in the House] that has the highest aggregate number of votes shall be considered a majority of the House." (Section 21 of proposed bill).
This is a form of the Proxy Plan, discussed in a newspaper 20 years earlier. Now it is known as Interactive Representation.Under the plan, the final vote count of the candidates becomes the number of votes they have in council, as the winners become proxies for their supporters. At that time it was described as the only theoretically-exact system of representation proposed yet. (Carroll (Iowa) Herald, April 24, 1872)
The system is simpler than STV. Voters do not need to ran candidates. The only added feature for them over and above FPTP is to consider whether or not the route of vote transfer indicated by their first choice candidate, if the candidate cannot be elected or accumulates surplus, is acceptable. If not, the voter should choose a different first choice candidate or still vote for the candidate but be prepared to write in a different choice on his ballot. Unlike party-list pro-rep it allows flexibility to voters. Voters can have their vote transferred across party lines if desired. Unlike both FPTP and STV, the vote can be transferred to a candidate outside the district. This accomplishes some of the benefits of the multi-member district of STV.
Unusually, the voter and government authorities have no way of knowing how many will be elected in each district. The practical maximum would be four persons but likely would be no more than three. But could also be as few as two or even one perhaps. The uncertainty could be lessened by raising the quota to 26 percent, whereby three at the most could be elected in each district.
The number of seats a party wins would not be evidence of its power. The members would wield not one vote per head in the chamber as current practice but as many "proxy" votes as they accumulated in the election. So if the system was used today, the MPs in the Canadian House of Commons would have some 18M proxy votes.The quota (20 percent) is arbitrary and would be a different number of votes in each district. The use of districts allows different size districts and would allow rural/urban, Centre/hinterland disparity if desired. Gerrymandering is less important because votes can flow across district boundaries. As well, no minorities trapped in districts will be drowned out, and no surplus majorities wasted. No votes would be exhausted under this system.
Every district could elect multiple members depending on the distribution of the vote. So minorities would be represented. A voting block of 20 percent of the voters of a district - the quota of a four-seat STV district - would send a representative to the chamber.
Electing a living breathing representative would not the basis of the election. At least one person would be elected in each district - at least in the present environment. One candidate at least does receive 20 percent of the vote in a district. But that representative would not have just one vote in the chamber – he/she would have as many votes as received in the end.Every vote (eventually) becomes an effective vote.
As for the goal "That the majority of Parliament represent the majority of the electors" is guaranteed. But the standing in the House would not necessarily reflect first choice votes. The flexibility accorded candidates to allocate transfers, and the flexibility accorded voters likewise, would determine the number of proxy votes and they would not be necessarily along party lines of first choice votes. (The same "unproportional" but democratic voting is produced under STV but often overlooked there). For example, if a voter has strong local attachment, he might indicate the possible transfer of his vote to another local candidate of a different party instead of transferring along party lines to a party candidate outside the district. This liberty would safeguard local representation if voters desire.
As well, despite the common idea of majority representation, the majority of seats in the parliament, which are truly elected by a majority of voters, would not be of just one party, that is, unless a single party took a majority of the vote. False majorities would be prevented. No party would have more votes in the chamber than its support warranted.Wrong majorities - where a party with but minority support captured a majority of the seats in the chamber - would also be prevented. The majority under-represented in those cases would itself have the majority of votes in the chamber. Although the majority would be be spread over two or more parties.
Section 21 [Interactive Representation] states "The side on any division [vote in the House] that has the highest aggregate number of votes shall be considered a majority of the House." This is already the working procedure in the House. It is said that a government needs a majority in the chamber to pass a bill. But this is not established once and then taken as a given. Each bill is voted on by those in attendance at that moment. The term majority really just means more votes than those of the other side. This would be the case too under this plan. If a party receives a majority of the vote after transfers are worked through, it would have a majority of the votes in the chamber. If all its members attended sessions, it would be assured of passing bills. Members not able to attend a sitting might be paired off with members of the opposing side with the equivalent number of votes who would also abstain from voting to mutually avoid the forfeiture of government. Such was done in a federal minority government of the 1920s. (source?)
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Proxy Plan (interactive representation) is proposed for legislature whereby elected representatives would wield as many votes as they received in previous election.
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Peel's PP search proxy and Election 1871-1913
all I could find were proxy voting where delegates carried votes for others unable to attend a meeting
Proxy used in university seat elections in Britain
Proxy votes used in Edmonton-area district Liberal conventions (EB, Aug. 31, 1900)
proxy votes also used in election of medical council of Alberta disagreement about whether proxy votes can be open with out direction given to those casting proxy votes. (EB, Oct. 27, 1906)
proxy votes also allowed in city elections husbands of wives who hold property can cast their wives votes by proxy (EB, Dec. 13, 1906) assessor W.J. McMillan
BC Liberal convention, Golden, BC used proxy votes to represent views of those unable to attend the convention. (The Outcrop Jan. 17, 1907)
nomination meeting of MP Wilbert McIntyre in Wetaskiwin saw some vote through proxies (EB, Nov. 21, 1907)
farmers in Camrose used direct and proxy votes to show support for law case being pursued by local farmers (Wetaskiwin Times, March 26, 1908)
1909 amalgamation of AFA and Society of Equity meeting to form the United Farmers of Alberta. vote by proxy was disallowed. (EB, Jan. 14, 1909)
Liberals of the Strathcona Federal constituency voted on candidate to fill seat left empty after death of Wilbert McIntyre (EB, Oct. 1, 1909)
Edmonton District Liberal Convention. Delegates will attend in person and not by proxy EB, Aug. 23, 1911, p. 1
voting at UFA convention is not to be by proxy (GGG, Dec. 20, 1911, p. 16)
GGG, Feb. 26, 1913 Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association convention held at Saskatoon Feb. 12-14, 1913 no proxy voting allowed
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Peel's PP search proxy and election 1914-1926
1914 petition of 3019 names is creature of ex-mayors who are poor losers (Edmonton Capital, Feb. 19, 1914)
GGG to abolish proxy voting by GGA members (GGG, Jan. 6, 1915)
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Research notes on Proxy Plan (AKA interactive representation)
Another term for the Proxy Plan is interactive representation (Wikipedia: "interactive representation")my wordage:
And the elected members would have relative power in decision making determined by the overall vote they had received from voters.
Proxy "Proportional Representation" by Robert Tyson (GGG, Aug. 7, 1912, page 10, page 33:
Proxy Plan described as "of considerable interest because of its efficiency and simplicity and because the People's Power League of the State of Oregon is going to submit it to a referendum.* The league chose it because it is efficient and it is very easy to explain and fits in well with Direct Legislation. explained by way of example of a municipal election electing seven councillors at-large.
voters rank candidates on ballot, but understanding that his vote will count only for one.
First choice votes are counted and released to the press. put into bundles and collected in central office.candidate having smallest bundle is declared out of the count. and votes transferred to second choice candidates.
"Thus no voter need fear to mark any comparatively weak candidate as his first choice because he knows that his vote will go to a stronger candidate if the first choice is defeated."
"The process of excluding the lowest candidate is continued until only enough candidates remain to fill the seats in the council and these are the elected ones."
"At the close of the transfer there would remain seven elected candidates with varying number of votes. Perhaps two or three popular men having many more than their four or five colleagues. To equalize this each member would be entitled to cast, in a vote in the chamber, as many votes as he received at his election. The theory being that each councillor acts as proxy for those who voted for him."
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* Oregon voted on a combined motion to abolish the senate, use proxy voting [actually Proxy government] and amend constitution in line with ideas of Mr. W.S. U'ren, but it received only 30 percent of the vote and failed to pass. (Wikipedia: "List of Oregon ballot measures")
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1912 Oregon vote
New York Times, June 30, 1912
"Government by Proxy Now. Oregon Pan would Present Ideas of Representative lawmaking"
W.S. U'Ren and other reformers in Oregon were seeking to cap the People's Power League government's series of political reforms with wide-ranging electoral reform in 1912.One of its intents is to "have all the votes cast in any election represented in the legislative assembly by proxy members whose voting power [in the chamber] shall be gauged by the number of electors who voted for them."The plan also included - abolition of the state Senate,- government power to be invested in assembly of 60 members,- state divided into districts but votes able to cross district boundaries,- any 1/60th of the voters in the state voting for one person shall ensure his election,- each voter may cast vote for candidate in the district where he resides or, by writing other name on ballot, for any candidate in the state. "Thus Prohibitionists, Socialists or any other small organization might unite their strength and have all their ballots throughout the state cast for just one candidate. Should such a candidate receive one-sixtieth of the total state vote, he would be declared elected."-
Proxy Plan (government by proxy, now called interactive representation), whereby "on any roll call in the legislature a member casts for or against a measure the total number of votes he had received at the polls.
"- to ensure representation of even those who voted for unsuccessful candidates: unsuccessful candidates for governor would be made ex-officio members of the Assembly. They would have at their disposal all the votes the candidates of their party received in the previous election. - extension of initiative and referendum to municipalities and counties
Aside from the complicated nature of the preceding clauses, other apparently more-contentious items may have helped cause the referendum to fail:- Assembly is forbidden from paying the cost of preparing petitions under the initiative or referendum - creation of new counties. (A newspaper account described this as "being intended to permit the popular rulers to cut off certain sections where they are now in a minority"). (New York Times, June 30, 1912, p. 30)
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B6. Canadian Home Rule... page 39
"Act relating to the Electoral franchise ..." page 45
short notes"Canadian Home Rule..." (page 39 to page 49)
universal adult suffrage
A series of run-off elections would determine the successful candidates.
Writer called for creation of a Director General, sort of a commissioner at the federal level, an un-elected official appointed by parliament and answerable to parliament. And creation of appointed Councillors of State that would constitute an executive council, which would combine the functions and powers of the present Cabinet and Privy Council. A decade or more after the book's publication, appointed commissioners would be adopted at the municipal level (but never at the higher levels of governments in Canada).
Broad notes: "Canadian Home Rule..." (page 39 to page 44)
universal adult suffrage page 41
local authorities in charge of drawing boundaries of federal electoral districts page 41
"No system whereby the whole people of Canada would have equal representation can be conceived, even theoretically, if it is defined to mean the representation of each and every individual elector, and his private and peculiar opinions on each and every subject."
A series of run-off elections would determine the successful candidates"
Practically, although the individual preferences of the delegates were not represented by the election of the successful candidate, yet the representation of the interests of the country — through the election of the successful candidates — would be secured." [This same statement could be used for the usual go-to alternative to run-off elections - single transferable voting.]
Writer advocates Parliament adopting a system of secret voting. This would take away the power of he part machine in the chamber [It also could maybe free representatives from any kind of reckoning with their constituents. Their voting record would be unknown.]Writer called for creation of a Director General, sort of a commissioner at the federal level, an un-elected official appointed by parliament and answerable to parliament. And creation of appointed Councillors of State that would constitute an executive council, which would combine the functions and powers of the present Cabinet and Privy Council. A decade or more after the book's publication, appointed commissioners would be adopted at the municipal level (but never at the higher levels of governments in Canada).
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B7. "Per Asperam ad Astra" (page 50 to page 56)
what is representation? page 50
following essentials: page 51
changes required page 53
BILL TO REFORM THE SYSTEM ... page 55
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"Per Asperam ad Astra" proposes multi-layered quota-based party-list pro-rep. (with straight non-transferable votes)
[An adaptation of this proposed plan could be:District-level elections. Elections at this layer would elect about 240 MPs:
multi-member district elections using STV and single-member districts where sparse population prevent grouping of districts would use FPTP or Alternative Voting.
At-large level: the overall party vote tallies would be used to allocate 100 seats. Each two percent of the overall vote in the district-level elections would elect two of these seats.
As well, voters would cast transferable votes in a third layer: This would be a party-level vote using Alternative Voting or the Gove plan as described in April 2020 blog "Two nifty reform measures" .
The five most popular parties from the previous election would be in the running. Votes cast one vote each ranking up to four parties. Least-popular parties are eliminated with their votes transferred to next choices. A party has to accumulate majority of votes to form government. That party, if it does not have at least a majority of two seats from the district and at-large elections, would be given enough top-up MPs to have a majority of two in the chamber.]
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"The questions that this essay professes to answer therefore may briefly be stated as follows:
(1). What are the functions of a complete representative system?
(2). In what particulars and to what degree does the existing system fall short of the purposes for which it was instituted ?
(3). To what causes are the deficiencies of the present system due?
(4). By what means can these deficiencies be rectified?
... The first essential of representative government therefore is that it should be popular government — ... it must be the nation in miniature, a small typical representative nation... microcosm of the people... There should be no party of any strength, no sentiment of any power, no principle of any vitality in the country which was not also present in parliament in a strength proportioned to its strength in the nation. (page 50)
...The existing system of government in Canada might be more properly described as responsible than representative. Responsible government has its origin in the impracticability of representative government, as representative government has its origin in the impracticability of popular [direct] government....
If the representatives cannot be impressed with the collective personality of the electors so as to do precisely as the electors would have done on every occasion, they can at least be made responsible to the people for their acts. At certain fixed periods they can be called upon to justify and explain their parliamentary record, and stand or fall as the public may desire.In what way shall the representatives be chosen? Any system of electoral representation completely consistent with the purposes of representative government indicated above must possess the following essentials:
(1). It must enable every elector to be represented in parliament.
(2). It must give every elector the right and opportunity to vote for whoever he wishes to represent him.
(3). It must enable electors scattered throughout the country to unite their votes for a common candidate.
(4). It must ensure the representation in parliament of all classes and shades of opinion in the country, whose supporters have attained the numerical strength necessary to entitle their candidate to a seat.
The existing electoral system lacks not one but all of these essentials:
1. It does not enable every elector to be represented in parliament.
2. It does not give every elector the opportunity to vote for the man he desires to represent him.
3. It does not enable electors scattered throughout the country to unite their votes for a common candidate,
4. Nor does it by any means ensure representation in parliament to all classes and shades of opinion in the community, even where these classes or opinions have attained to large proportions, and even a large degree of public favour."
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It further causes these issues
(1). By it a very large number of the people do not obtain representation in parliament and it is possible that a majority of the people should not be represented.
(2). It involves the existence of constituencies, arbitrary electoral districts, for the candidates in which the electors are forced to vote, and outside of which they are not permitted to support any candidate by their votes. By this system of arbitrary localization of votes it prevents citizens and parties of national strength by local weakness from combining their votes to elect a representative.
(3). By thus weakening the minor parties and interests of the state and preventing their representation in the legislature, it tends to unduly encourage party government and divide the people and the parliament into two parties, who monopolize the House and prevent that independence and originality of thought that are essential to the well-being and progress of the nation.
"The elector is entitled to vote in the nation and in any part of it, and for any citizen of it, and to unite his vote not only with his neighbours but with his countrymen despite the imposition of arbitrary lines of constitutional demarcation [the electoral districts]." (p. 52)
it is now generally conceded that the true basis of representation is population.
Constituencies should be abolished, and in their place there should be established electoral groups, by a division of the population. Every member should be required to get a certain fixed number of votes in order to be elected, and the number necessary for election might best be ascertained by a division of the total number of representatives (as fixed by the constitution) into the total number of electors, and it should not be necessary that these votes should come from any particular locality as at present.
Thus the following changes are necessary:
(1). Every elector should have an opportunity to vote for a successful candidate.
(2). Abolition of constituencies.
(3). Division of electors into electoral groups based on numbers, not land.
(4). Abolition of election by majority [plurality] vote, and establishment of a quota of votes, which it will be necessary for the candidate to obtain in order to be elected, and which would be ascertained by dividing the total number of electors by total number of representatives.
(5). Abolition of localization of votes, and adoption of a system that would enable elector to vote for candidate in any part of country.
This system enables each voter to continue voting until he has voted for a successful candidate. It enables him to cast his vote for any candidate he desires in any part of the country. It establishes a quota of votes. And it preserves the secrecy of the ballot.
1. Constituencies are abolished, and there is substituted for them electoral groups. The electors of the country are divided (on the basis of the voters' list) into a number of divisions or groups, each one of which will return a representative to parliament. In order to ensure the election of any candidate he must obtain a definite number of votes (to be ascertained by dividing the number of voters by number of representatives)... Electoral groups would be three times the quota (the number required for election).
in Canada with 900,000 voters, 300 representatives, quota 3000, 9000-strong electoral groups
An election will therefore be held in 100 electoral groups.Initial round of elections: In each of these one candidate will be returned. One-third of the votes in each group will be satisfied, and two-thirds will as yet have no representative. The election proceeds, the minority or unsatisfied voters in each case forming the basis of a new system of electoral groups.second round: "now a second series will be formed on the minority, unsatisfied votes, or 600,000 basis. These electors are re-grouped into new groups of 9,000 each, and the second series[of about 66 elections] is thus formed"
"Every series of groups will be smaller in numbers and wider in area than that preceding it. Every elector will continue voting until he votes for a successful candidate — until he is represented in the legislature."...it will prolong the period of choice — that the election instead of being hurried through in one day, as at present, may occupy several days before it is completed. [But] There is nothing meritorious in the present system of rushing through the election on one day.
This system passes the tests of representative governments:
(1). Every elector will have an opportunity to vote for whoever he pleases. Clause 13 of the annexed Bill does not conflict with this privilege. Though the elector may not find the representative he desires in the first group, he can by voting for some purely nominal candidate earn the opportunity to continue voting until he enters the group in which the representative he desires has been nominated and in which, on account of its breadth, he has enough supporters to elect him.
(2). All parties and classes or men having 3,000 supporters can obtain a place in the legislature. These supporters need not, as under present system, be all living together in the same constituency, but may be scattered in various parts of the country. Thus if the scientists of Canada desired to elect a scientist to the legislature, they could not do so at present, not being 3,000 strong in any one constituency. They could do so under the new system if they numbered 3,000, though scattered in every part of the country, by nominating a man in the last electoral group, which is co-extensive with the nation, or if 9,000 strong they could nominate candidates in three electoral groups, each co-extensive with one-third of country.
(3). Every class and shade of political thought will be represented in parliament, which will thus become as far as possible the exact mirror of the people.
(4). Any man whose ability has impressed itself on the minds of 3,000 of his fellow citizens in the country can, by their support, be elected to parliament, and thus a new and original and invaluable element of genius and independence will find its way into the legislature.
(5). Party power would be weakened by abolition of its fortresses, the constituencies.---------------------------------------------------------------------
B8. In Deo Spero page 57 [see notes above at S8]
B9. Pacifico page 71 [see notes above at S9]
CHAPTER I. A PRIORI NEGATIVE DEMONSTRATION page 71
Chapter II. A Posteriori Demonstration; The "Majority Rule" Myth page 72 Chapter III. Direct Legislation page 74
Chapter IV. The Cumulative Vote page 77
Chapter V. The Free Ticket or List page 78
Chapter VI. The Preferential Plan page 79
Chapter VII. General Considerations page 83
B10. Southern Cross [Catherine Helen Spence*] page 90 [see notes above at S10]
Chapter 1. Importance of the Subject page 90
Chapter II. Method of Voting and Formation of the Quota page 96
Chapter III. Objections Answered page 100
Chapter IV. Effective Voting page 106
Chapter V. Palliatives - The Initiative an the Referendum - the Imperative Mandate - Direct Legislation page 111
Chapter VI. Conclusion page 113
Chapter VII. DRAFT BILL FOR THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA page 117 Appendix I. [STV elections in Australia] page 120
Appendix II. [filling up a vacancy] page 121(*)
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