Wednesday, 2 March 2011

AV: Duverger's Law

OK, so I've been looking for a name for this thing where people graduate towards 2 parties under FPTP and I've discovered there's a law called Duverger's Law (Duverger was a French sociologist).  I feel better now as I have a name for it.

If you want to know more, read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger's_Law. It explains why I have such a passionate hatred of FPTP (because it means that politics remains the reserve of existing players rather than working more like a market).

It's also why nearly all the anti-AV writing out there is by people connected with the 2 main parties.

2 comments:

  1. As you say, it's a statement of the blindingly obvious, but it's nice to have a name for things.

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  2. And yet, a lot of people who can't stand the main 3 parties can't seem to get it.

    It's my main reason for supporting anything-but-FPTP: criticise them for whatever reason, but the evidence is that they deliver more diverse political results.

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