Should we vote for the Alternative Vote?
On 5 May 2011, the UK will hold its first national referendum in a generation. The issue at stake is the voting system for national Parliamentary elections and the choice is seemingly simple: should we retain the First Past the Post system, or change to the Alternative Vote?
Counting on Reform, a new report published by Theos this week, aims to help Britons better understand the options on offer, placing them in the broader context of why we value what we value about democracy. The report contends that any decision we make will invariably draw on deeply held personal commitments and beliefs around key questions of principle. What do we understand to be the basis of political representation? How should we weigh the relative value of political strength vs. political compromise? How important do we believe is the merit of electoral simplicity?
Only by thinking through such issues will we grasp what is - and isn't – at stake on 5 May and feel confident about which box we choose to tick.
Paul Bickley, co-author of the report, has written this week's Current Debate about the issue. Download the report free by
clicking here