NationStates Jolt Archive

What would make you vote for a political party? What would they have to offer (or/and do) to convince you to vote for them?

When answering, please state real-life country that you are a Citizen of (if Dual Ststus, please state which you reside in most).

*not american*

pass a law which makes it compulsory to vote. Problem solved.

*not american*

pass a law which makes it compulsory to vote. Problem solved.

Well, until you find the BananaMan-SuperMonkey Party sweeping into power.

*not american*

pass a law which makes it compulsory to vote. Problem solved.

I thing compulsory voting is a great idea as long as there is an abstain box.

Well, until you find the BananaMan-SuperMonkey Party sweeping into power.

You say that like it would be a bad thing.

You say that like it would be a bad thing.

Well, it is difficult to see how they could be any worse than the current lot, that much is true.

Well, until you find the BananaMan-SuperMonkey Party sweeping into power.

be an interseting choice, and are you saying the public cant be trusted to vote sensibly?

*not american*

pass a law which makes it compulsory to vote. Problem solved.

Fuck off. We already got that stupid shit here in Australia. It's dumb. We're forced to choose between the Nazis and the Soviets.

be an interseting choice, and are you saying the public cant be trusted to vote sensibly?

No, just that all the people who didn't want to vote will vote for a stupid party in protest at being made to do it.

be an interseting choice, and are you saying the public cant be trusted to vote sensibly?

You have looked at who's in power at the moment, haven't you?

You have looked at who's in power at the moment, haven't you?

This thread seems to be heading away from compulsory voting and more towards advocating taking away people right to vote entirely.

Fuck off. We already got that stupid shit here in Australia. It's dumb. We're forced to choose between the Nazis and the Soviets.

so youd rather let someone else choose for you then? and then grin and bare it?

Fuck off. We already got that stupid shit here in Australia. It's dumb. We're forced to choose between the Nazis and the Soviets.

Ignoring your bullshit about Nazis & Socialists, I don't think it makes the general voting populace less apathetic. Most people still don't seem to care who they're voting for (witness John Howard being endlessly re-elected), they just vote because it's compulsory.

No, just that all the people who didn't want to vote will vote for a stupid party in protest at being made to do it.

some would, not all

No, just that all the people who didn't want to vote will vote for a stupid party in protest at being made to do it.

Some do, there are enough minor parties in Australia to "waste" your vote on, if that's your wish.

Some don't, they cast their vote seriously.

Others donkey vote by filling out the ballot paper incorrectly, thus invalidating their vote & barring it from being counted.

This thread seems to be heading away from compulsory voting and more towards advocating taking away people right to vote entirely.

The problem with the popularity contest that is voting is that the people elected don't give a shit about anything that isn't going to make them more likely to be re-elected next time 'round. Anything that'll make a difference in ten, twenty or fifty years time is out of the window if it'll cost anything or cause any minor hardship now that might negatively affect opinions of the current Powers That Be.
Most of the not-stupid decisions made by the British government are made in the House of Lords, when they stop the House of Commons from doing stupid things (Well, until they invoke the Parliament Act and push it through anyway). Why is this? Because the Peers aren't elected. They just have to do The Right Thing and don't have to care what people think of them for it.

I'd much rather the House of Commons were randomly selected from the population at large and the Parliament Act abolished; there would be no popularity contest, and the House of Lords would help prevent some of the stupidity inherant in any group of humans.

(As an aside, a similar form of government was proposed by a Sci-Fi author in one of his books. I think it was Arthur C. Clarke in Rama, but it could've been Issac Asimov. My memory's not so hot sometimes.)

*not american*

pass a law which makes it compulsory to vote. Problem solved.
In a democracy, no one should be forced to vote. It is bad enough as it is, when you have ill-informed voters going to the polls.

I do believe that everyone should exercise their democratic right to vote, and hopefully they will do so in an informed manner.