Talk:GRSJ224/proportionalrepresentation

Hello,

This is a great topic to write about, especially with the upcoming referendum. It was a very good intro to the topic.

I was wondering if you would be able to include a brief history of why Canada currently uses a First Past the Post electoral system? Are there perhaps oppressive or colonial structures that are at play? I think by including this you will be able to find more peer edited sources for your contribution.

I really enjoyed that chose to discuss this topic as it very relevant to BC voters. I liked how you kept the topic neutral as I didn't feel that you were leaning more to one side. You used excellent facts that would especially help a young voter understand what proportional representation means. Maybe a little bit more history on why we have the first past the post system would add to this very nicely.

Great topic! I'm very glad you picked this topic, I think it is so relavant to be imformed on this subject especially in light of the current BC electoral reform. As a suggestion, I think adding more peer reveiwed sources would be benefitial to your arguments. Also, maybe adding an infographic or picture would make the page more attractive looking too.

Hi agree with you there I think to add to the topic overall there needs to be a greater sense of credibility which could be added through the addition of academic sources. Additionally I think that you need to watch the tone and direction of your points it is important to try and create a neutral stance when explaining the facets of a system you can talk about benefit but by making forward statements your credibility on the topic can be lost.

Great topic! I'm very glad you picked this topic, I think it is so relavant to be imformed on this subject especially in light of the current BC electoral reform. As a suggestion, I think adding more peer reveiwed sources would be benefitial to your arguments. Also, maybe adding an infographic or picture would make the page more attractive looking too.

Hi! Fantastic choice of topic, I just have a couple of small suggestions! Firstly, it would be nice to have a definition of Proportional Representation at the top of the page, as it is the focus of the page, then you could go on to describe First Past the Post & the Current Electoral system. I would maybe even add another sub-category for why Proportional Representation is favorable, as you mention that in your "Current Electoral System" section. Furthermore, commenting on the impact of Proportional Representation and women in government is fantastic, and I would love to see an expansion on that topic, or one similar, with some peer-reviewed articles! Again, great choice of topic and good work so far!

Yes like others mentioned this is a great topic to highlight due to the referendum on electoral reform. I think what would provide to be more beneficial is including why there are proponents of the FPTP system. As you mention the history of the FPTP but I think briefly mentioning its pro's would provide more context of why it's remained in the system for so long.

What I guess I'm trying to say is that often wiki pages are quite neutral and though there are a lot of problems with FPTP, I think the phrasing here "First Past the Post is a system that does not fairly represent the riding as fairly due to its method of majority votes" is one of subjective rather than objective claims because of the use of the word "fairly". To be clear, I'm not saying that this point isn't valid! It's true, that votes are not proportional to the voters and representation of citizens but I think you will have to define what "fair" means in the context of democracy.

What does being fair within the electoral system mean? I think that would give more a firm foundational base to your ideas as well as having more sources because it can sound more like thoughts. The point is there but having examples to back it up and to explain it would be amazing!

This is definitely a very timely topic and I think it is great that you chose it for our wiki! To relate the topic more closely with our course objectives, I wonder if you could explore some of the social impacts of having a proportional representation system vs FPTP? For example, pro-rep is often associated with increased representation of women in government, reduced income inequality, and more sustainable (as in long-lasting) environmental policy, due to minimizing the effects of policy lurch, and having more of the popular vote count. This would be an interesting angle to explore for the wiki to tie it to our course themes of social justice and feminism. To build on the earlier commenter, here is a scholarly source you could use to expand on these points.