994
submitted 6 months ago by 3volver@lemmy.world to c/general@lemmy.world
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 15 points 6 months ago

Merging the two houses won't help. We need proportional representation. Make the senate 600 seats, and a national, proportional election (seats are given based on % of votes for the party). They're still 6 year terms, with elections every two years. Seats are given to any party that can clear 0.5% to start, then the threshold is increased to 2% after 12 years. Then expand the house. Now you have local reps and proportional reps. Much better than giving "states" reps, which makes almost no sense.

[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world -3 points 6 months ago

We need proportional representation.

That's what the House is for.

[-] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

The house is Local Representation. You don't vote for what party you want to see control the house, you vote for a local representative to represent you and your neighbors.

[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world -1 points 6 months ago

It is also that. The two are by necessity the same thing.

[-] Pipoca@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

No?

Proportional representation is where parties get a number of seats proportional to the percent of votes they get.

Proportional voting methods are often nation-wide, although there's also e.g. mixed member proportional and local 3-5 member districts elected via STV like they do in Ireland.

[-] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

By making them the same thing, you encourage gerrymandering. In the US, there's no way for a third party to gain any representation. A national, proportional election would force the issue and allow for more diversity in political thought.

[-] Maggoty@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

But not in the same way that actual proportional representation works. They're distributed by population yes, but they're tied to a geographical location. Real proportional representation is national. So you have one legislative body tied to a district they're supposed to represent, and another tied to the base of voters across the country that elected them.

this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2024
994 points (91.3% liked)

General Discussion

11946 readers
1 users here now

Welcome to Lemmy.World General!

This is a community for general discussion where you can get your bearings in the fediverse. Discuss topics & ask questions that don't seem to fit in any other community, or don't have an active community yet.


🪆 About Lemmy World


🧭 Finding CommunitiesFeel free to ask here or over in: !lemmy411@lemmy.ca!

Also keep an eye on:

For more involved tools to find communities to join: check out Lemmyverse and Feddit Lemmy Community Browser!


💬 Additional Discussion Focused Communities:


Rules

Remember, Lemmy World rules also apply here.0. See: Rules for Users.

  1. No bigotry: including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia.
  2. Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
  3. Be thoughtful and helpful: even with ‘silly’ questions. The world won’t be made better by dismissive comments to others on Lemmy.
  4. Link posts should include some context/opinion in the body text when the title is unaltered, or be titled to encourage discussion.
  5. Posts concerning other instances' activity/decisions are better suited to !fediverse@lemmy.world or !lemmydrama@lemmy.world communities.
  6. No Ads/Spamming.
  7. No NSFW content.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS