The Importance of Being Idle

How To Win An Election (Or Not Lose By Much)

As a kind of follow up to last nights rant, I'm gonna hit on the next big topic of the day: compulsion.
Voter turn-out has actually become the big issue of this election, as the Conservatives have all but admitted defeat. Now the game is to try and actually get people to turn out and vote so we get something even vaguely resembling a parliament representative of the aspirations of the people, and talk inevitably turns to compulsion. Now I know some countries already have this, but to me it actually seems anti-democratic to force people who are un-moved by the political process to vote for the lesser of two (or however many) evils. It could potentially lead to some very disturbing results as people dissatisfied with the main parties but nonetheless legally compelled to vote register their protest by voting for whichever extremist party takes their fancy (or whichever one they see first). That issue could I suppose be solved by giving us a "None of the above" box, but then what exactly does a massive landslide win for "None of the above" really mean? How would we enforce this system of compulsory voting? How much would it cost, and who would police it? To me the whole thing just seems wrong.
How then do we increase voter turnout? Would Proportional Representation make a difference? Evidence from the Scottish parliament where PR was introduced makes me think not, as voter turnout has remained fairly static. In the light of what we know about the way politics is moving, and its focus on a smaller and smaller number of 'key voters', what benefit is there to politicians attempting to engage and inspire a greater number of potential voters, when all they can do is lose? I don't see an answer, I really don't.
I'm in the midst of filling out job applications and I'm at the stage I call 'Creative Writing', y'know the bit where you have to say why you are the right person for the job and everybody else just sucks. I hate doing this bit, I'm terrible at dissociating from myself and actually selling me as a great commodity, cos I really don't think I'm all that great...
Okay, back to work!

posted by BadMonkey @ 12:19 PM