• MousePotatoDoesStuff@piefed.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 days ago

      Yeah, FPTP is terrible. Which is why I’m saying that if a third party slowly builds power from the bottom up, it might MAYBE work, as long as it doesn’t go for the big win until it’s ready.

      • IratePirate@feddit.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 days ago

        It can’t. “Building from the bottom up” means winning seats in races for mayor, state legislatures, or the federal Senate and Congress. That means splitting the Democrat vote in those exact races, and makes sure that everywhere you try to “build power”, you will hurt that side of the political dichotomy that is closest to your own political ideas.

        • MousePotatoDoesStuff@piefed.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          3 days ago

          Oh. That’s messed up. Makes me appreciate living in a country with a functional democracy (parliamentary system, two-round elections for president…) that much more

          • IratePirate@feddit.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            3 days ago

            What’s really messed up is that the very people who could end FPTP/winner-take-all through constitutional reform are actually incentivised to keep everything as-is: after all, why risk losing your seat to even more competition?

            Makes me appreciate living in a country with a functional democracy

            Same here. We’ve got proportional voting. The result still isn’t perfect, but there’s a lot less distortion between what people wanted and what people got.