Voting Reform 3: Weak Governments? #referendum

A two-party system could be said to lead to strong governments with large majorities in Parliament. Unfortunately, this is usually off the back of a minority of the vote: 30-40% usually.

Conversely, proportional systems are often criticised for producing weak governments who fail to implement their policies - or in the case of Belgium, fail to even form a government.

However, there are many factors that impact on the strength of government - in the intricate UK system, the Prime Minister is a central figure who needs to be a good broker between her Cabinet ministers. In Belgium, it is the ethno-linguistic division in the country - i.e. 'Belgium is not a real country' - which has produced their standstill. Arguably FPTP would be worse as it would lead to a swing between the two extremes.

So proportional systems like AV often lead to coalition governments which are forced to compromise with their former opponents in the country's best interests - or abandon their manifesto pledges for a shot at power, depending on how you look at it.

Does it follow that coalition governments are weak, lacking political will? After a hectic year of coalition politics, I think weakness is not one of this government's many flaws.