December 21, 2016
Introduction
While Greg Palast tweeted his ''like'' of my article addressing 1constitutional change for the democratization of the U.S., his gesture was ironic, as discussed later.
This follow-up article expands upon and concludes the initial piece, to inspire a constitutionally-minded platform for Senator Sanders's party-to-be, while including an initial policy concern. Nothing could be more appealing to all disenfranchised citizens (which represents about half of eligible voters), in the aftermath to and consequences of Sen. Sanders and Donald Trump's respective campaigns.
Senator Sanders's budding party platform for democracy: The survey
A - Senator Sanders should endorse a broad survey, the answers to which would serve as confirmation of populist support for his party, including validation of its programme, while at the same time implicitly reflecting a rebuke of the 2 corporate-funded parties and the system upon which their domination is dependent.
B - The survey must respond to whether citizens are happy with the present system of government, while seizing the opportunity to also weigh-in on a major issue to which a democratic system would have responded years ago (based on long-since conducted surveys).
The survey:
Part 1
To join the Western nations that enjoy parliamentary democracies, the survey must ask if the respondent favours:
Choice #1 - No change to present non-parliamentary 2-party system.
Choice #2 - On the voting ballots, voters must select his/her favoured candidate, along with a second-choice-candidate; if the riding does not produce a candidate with 50% or more of that sector's votes, a majority would result via a second count which would follow the elimination of the party with the least votes. (If there are more than 3 parties, then the run-off would only include the top 2 parties.)
Choice #3 - Here, representation corresponds to the popular vote: This is favoured in most democracies (and the result is voter turnouts of about 75%).
In the example of choice #2 above, and as is the case in *Canada's present (but promised to change) parliamentary system, a minority government is possible. It is the 1POSSIBILITY of (allowance for) a minority government which assures the existence of democracy.
However, in a parliamentary democracy where representation corresponds to the popular vote (choice #3), coalition governments replace minority governments; this ONLY refers to circumstances where the ruling party achieves less than 50% of the popular vote.
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