Referenda on Voting System Change in British Columbia - Book Report/Review Example

? The 2005 and 2009 Referenda on Voting System Change in British Columbia Introduction The of the literature expounds on the reforms of the British Columbia (BC) electoral referendum of 2005 and 2009. The ideas concerning politics and electoral system are not new to us, as their issues have been affecting different nations around the world. In reference to Lum Chew, who is also a political author, the issue has a great impact on the general performance of countries in question. Electoral activist all over the world are pushing citizens to fight for their rights as this will impact on democracy by having electoral systems that meet the needs of the public. This article is aims at mobilizing the public in taking stern actions against issues affecting public welfare. The article is outstanding in relation to other political authors. This is following the detailed explanation of the whole referendum process, which captures readers’ attention. However, the author fails in relating the article with other events; his argument does not have supporting materials making it hard to analyze effects of poor electoral systems in BC. An ideal example of a political author who has delivered fully his message to the public is O'Mara, as he uses different vivid examples thus enhancing the understanding of readers (O'Mara, 1962). The author is not thorough in his writing. There is omission of different key inclusions, which should be dominant in this article, such a literature review because it will increase the impact of the article to the public. However, readers can clearly get the message but with little impact. A political article should create a substantial impact as it expects the public to react in line with the subject. This makes the article have an alternative interpretation; one may think it is a research article investigating political issues in British Columbia. Summary of the article The article discusses the surprising issue concerning the British Columbia referenda of 2005 and 2009. We expect that if a referendum is held and the proposal rejected by the masses, the succeeding proposal is obviously accepted by the citizen, as it includes amendments suggested by the public. However, in this case, citizens rejected the 2005 and the 2009 referendum, thus calling for reforms in the electro system (Carty, Andre and Fournier, 2008). This is evident that there is a problem related to transparency; authorities should have amended the proposal to meet the needs of the public to the letter. The BS-STV was the proposed voting system in line with the recommendation of the Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform for application in BC. The system belongs to a Single Transferable Vote model of voting. The new voting system had the support of 58% in reference with the referendum held in 2005, and 60% in relation with the referendum held in 2009 as the second referendum. This was after massive investment in informing the masses about the significance of the proposed system; the 2nd referendum was rejected as well (Pilon, 2010). The implementation and design of the new voting system was following the advice from Premier Gordon Campbell. This is after creation of awareness with the New Democratic Party, thus establishing a Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform. The new established body was issued a go-ahead where it had the responsibility of implementing a new electoral system, which will be passed through a referendum. Everything was done as per the guidelines, and the design and implementation body was to evaluate the views of the citizens following the results of the referendum. An ideal voting system also gives rise to a democratic nation; this is one of the reasons why BC thought of having elections in the beginning of the century. Demonstrations and strikes also played a part in the initial reform processes. Such strikes and boycotts are ideal strategies in communicating information to the relevant authorities. The new system was a proposal to the public following recommendations by the Citizen’s Assembly. A critical evaluation of the system reveals its similarities with the STV electro systems around the world. This is where authorities fail to meet the needs of the public for self-interests. In relation with the STV use in Australia’s Senate, voters are not expected to rank candidates. This is to prevent voters from ranking unknown candidates or those that they do not opt to elect. Such considerations should be in the fore line in implementing such proposals, which may affect voters in the long run. Arguments in the article The article states the need for a new voting system in Canada that will raise the level of democracy and transparency in Canada. The government of Canada held a referendum on whether it was necessary to change the voting method as a reform in the electoral process. This article focuses on the referendum results of one of the provinces, BC. The results of the referendum that took place in 2005 indicate that the country needed a new electoral process (Reid, 2005). The new process would eliminate the recurrent cases of anomalous election results. BC residents preferred a change in the current system of voting during this referendum. However, in 2009 majority of those who participated in the referendum preferred the existing system of voting, which was the single transferable vote. The dramatic support of the single transferable vote among the Columbians triggers different reactions among scholars and other interested parties. The article argues that the public did not have enough information during the two referenda cases, which questions on the reliability of public opinion. Political influences could have manipulated the public in choosing the Single Transferrable Voting during the first referendum in 2005 through the use populism (Baldrey, 2009). The article argues that the results of the second referendum could have been a result of the uncertainty of the voters on partisan politics. The ultimate purpose of both referenda was to gain public trust in elections. However, this objective changes when the rich and influential political groups politicize the referendum process. The article describes how different elite groups are able to manipulate the decisions of voters in an election. The political elites did not consider the interests and opinions of the public but rather wanted to create a system that does not give room for change. On the other hand, the conventional political elites planned on how to outdo the political reforms without exposing their intentions. The reforms that led to the referenda were not an influence of the public opinion and democracy but rather the selfish needs of the political class. The author explains how the BC came up with the new model and how public opinion judged its effectiveness. The public did not have adequate information of to make their decisions regarding the referendum. Contributions of the article The article presents a number of ideas regarding electoral processes in different countries. It shows the complexity of electoral processes and the hidden forces that influence the whole process. It gives a clear illustration of the political processes that affect the reliability of results, which is significant to current electoral bodies in different countries. The article brings to light the factors that affect the voting process from the campaign level to results (Thomas, Hug and Sciarini, 2012). Different scholars and researchers have studied the factors affecting the reliability of results, but they all marry with the factors that the article proposes. Proper understanding of the article helps in developing and implementing strategies of reliable electoral processes. The greatest contribution of the article is its ability to explain different political systems that play a role in the political affairs of a country. The article explains how the political class influences the public for their own motives. They make people believe that the referenda were to their best interests of electoral democracy, only for people to know that the political leaders had their own motives (Carty, Andre, and Fournier, 2008). The strengths and weakness of the article The author of the article drives the main message home by using the example of British Columbia. All main arguments are open to readers, thus making it understandable to readers at different levels. The whole article is a success because it explains real issues affecting the political and electoral systems in many countries. The article uses clear descriptions and explanations of the events surrounding the 2005 and 2009 referendum to develop its thesis or ideas. This is why we find it easy to point out the thesis in the writing. The use of subtitles in the article enables a reader to identify the key points easily. However, the author of the article limits himself to the political processes in Canada only. He also concentrates on his own ideas; this can make one judge the article as unreliable as he hardly compares it with others in under the same subject. Different countries have different policies and rules on their electoral process, and it would have helped if the article considered cases in other countries. The author could have also cited other sources of law like the constitution to help him in developing the main ideas. It is difficult for an ordinary person to understand the article because of the complications brought about by the tone of the author. However, the article achieves its objectives by developing the main ideas of political systems and electoral processes. References Baldrey, K. (2009). “STV’s ripe with flaws, folly.” Abbottsford Times. May 1, pg. 8. Carty, R., Andre, B., and Fournier, P. (2008). “When citizens choose to reform SMP: The British Columbia Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform.” In Andre Blais, ed. To Keep or to Change First Past the Post. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 140-62. Cutler, F., Johnston, R., Carty, K., Blais, A., and Fournier, P. (2008). “Deliberation, information, and trust: the British Columbia Citizens’ Assembly as agenda setter.” In M. Warren and H. Pearse, eds. Designing Deliberative Democracy: The British Columbia Citizens’ Assembly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 166-91. Edwards, A. (2009). “Two reasons to vote ‘no’ to STV.” Trail Times. April 24. Ho, L. C. (1955). Some factors affecting the election of homemaking courses as interpreted from check-lists of 272 seniors in Ithaca High School. Ithaca, N. Y.. O'Mara, D. L. (1962). Factors affecting the election or non-election of homemaking by girls in the senior high school of Roseville, Michigan. Detroit, Mich: Wayne State University. Pilon, D. 2010. The 2005 and 2009 Referenda on Voting System Change in British Columbia. Canadian Political Science Review 4(2/3):72-89. Reid, A. (2005). “British Columbia ponders electoral reform options.” Angus Reid Global Monitor. Angusreid.com. Accessed Nov 13, 2012. Reid, A. (2005). “More in BC aware of voting referendum.” Angus Reid Global Monitor. Angusreid.com. Accessed Nov 13, 2012. Thomas, C., Hug, S., and Sciarini, P. (2012). “Interests and information in referendum voting: An analysis of Swiss voters.” European Journal of Political Research. 41: 6, 759–776. Read More