Citizens United by Henry McLeish sampler

citizens united
and 10 seats, be influential in shaping the future of Britain’s future?
More to the point, we are seeing Government of the party, by
the party, for the party, where narrow partisan party politics eclipse
any notion of the national interest, further diminish the credibility
of our democracy, allowing an ‘elected dictatorship’ to function;
71 per cent of all voters did not support the Conservatives or the dup.
The injustices and inconsistencies of our electoral system run deep.
The struggle for universal suffrage, the right to vote, was a great
victory for working people and remains the most important means at
their disposal to influence their own lives, the fortunes of their families
and indeed the course of history.
Despite the efforts of the Whigs and Tories and the ‘nobles, burgesses,
and shire commissioners’ before them, the struggle for universal voting
rights became unstoppable, but was only completely achieved in 1969.
For the founding fathers in the us and the privileged classes in Britain,
extending the franchise was fraught with fear of the people, rather than
power of the people. The idea of ‘mobocracy’ and the ‘behaviour of the
masses’ was a threat to elites.
In the modern era, the ‘first past the post’ system for Westminster
elections is archaic, politically repressive, unfair and unrepresentative.
The lack of a written constitution means that absolute power remains
with Westminster, not the people. The younger generation is crying
out to be listened to, but Westminster will not extend the franchise or
give a voice to 16-year-olds. The ideas of consensus, cooperation, and
coalition, unlike Europe, are not part of the Westminster discourse.
Proportional representation would help fix our broken politics,
strengthen a weak democracy and tackle the remoteness of governance.
Reforming the voting system for Westminster is, however, not on
the agenda. The status quo has preserved the dominance of Labour and
the Conservatives, reinforced partisanship and, despite the emergence
of a multi-party system, made millions of votes worthless in terms of
political impact and fairness. This is a rigged system.
Continental Europe is showing the way forward. Post-war forms
of proportional voting have overcome much of the tribalism that is
still the hallmark of Westminster, and has resulted in a better match
between votes cast, political party representation, the composition of
government and successful coalitions.
The defeat of the modest ‘Alternative Vote’ system in a referendum
in 2011 is only of significance to the point that this was a sham, a
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