BC Will not become Italy if STV passes. I think there are more than a few centuries of culture in the politics there, including a large stint where the Pope essentially ran the country. And then there was that whole empire thing prior to then.
There exists other countries with STV other than Italy who manage to produce stable, productive governments. Why aren't they being used as examples in this discussion? (hint - it's because they work better than Italy and are thus not seen as worthy of mention).
I think there are plenty of merits to argue either side of the debate, but I have to chuckle at the "OMG! We'll be Italy" meme.
This is one area where, despite the obvious potshots that can be tossed in recent years, the US system has a lot to commend it. States routinely have representatives from one party and an executive from another party - particularly if the state is undergoing some change or the recent majority party has gotten a little too snug in its position. The current BC election strikes me as an election that would ideally yield an NDP majority in representation with Campbell remaining as Premier, but the current system can't produce that result.
As Canada won't be giving up Parliamentary procedure itself (nor should it, in my opinion) and a viable third party doesn't seem to be in the cards for BC at this point (apologies to the Greens and the Conservatives), I think some form of Proportional Representation is a way of lessening the "all or nothing" leadership that seems to breed an environment ripe for insider corruption or heavy-handed legislation.
How both the NDP and BC Libs have managed to have leaders that are so uninspiring to the bulk of the Province is the one mystery I'll never understand. Perhaps someone can enlighten me on what about the current system led to that situation?
For the record, I'm not sure how I feel about STV so this wasn't meant as an advocating of it. I just really don't like when the "extreme argument" is being peddled as the ultimate natural outcome of any political decision. That's how I view the Italy comments so I was responding to that specifically.
Now I'm going to go look at pretty pictures of the skyline. It's the real reason I like this site, I absorb enough politics from the news
. Cheers!