At least Australia has a sane voting system, rather than the accursed "first past the post" so beloved of UK and US politicians. (Ah, the irony of a conservative party machine that railed against changes in a referendum a couple years ago, subsequently winding up in power as a coalition)
I suppose no system can eliminate such "party we dislike the least" outcomes. In the UK, the 2010 outcome was similarly less of a swing toward Con or LibDem (though they were looking promising), than away from Labour, given their record of leading the UK into Iraq and Afghanistan, and rolling with the bankers just as enthusiastically as in the US. Of course, the result has been to see all that multiplied. =:P But as the FPTP system severely maginalises any parties without strong concentrations of popularity, we're left with three parties that don't really have a heck of a lot to distinguish themselves - they're all for any war the US wants, all for "austerity", and all despise the poor and unemployed. You at least have some degree of real choice, particularly with the Greens in play, and the nascent Wikileaks Party.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-09-08 07:58 pm (UTC)I suppose no system can eliminate such "party we dislike the least" outcomes. In the UK, the 2010 outcome was similarly less of a swing toward Con or LibDem (though they were looking promising), than away from Labour, given their record of leading the UK into Iraq and Afghanistan, and rolling with the bankers just as enthusiastically as in the US. Of course, the result has been to see all that multiplied. =:P But as the FPTP system severely maginalises any parties without strong concentrations of popularity, we're left with three parties that don't really have a heck of a lot to distinguish themselves - they're all for any war the US wants, all for "austerity", and all despise the poor and unemployed. You at least have some degree of real choice, particularly with the Greens in play, and the nascent Wikileaks Party.