And for that, my respect for the United States remains strong (at least, my respect for the Spirit of America)

  • stylusmobilus@aussie.zone
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    2 hours ago

    Yeah nah they want two houses. It’s the system they operate under that’s the issue.

    Under a better functioning one, two houses provide screening of legislation. This has stopped bad legislation getting through in Australia a few times.

    Ditching the electoral process and the electoral college for ranked choice and a Senate selection system similar to how some Westminster style governments run would be a big help.

    • gh0stcassette@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      51 minutes ago

      I singled out the senate because it gives a state full of uninhabited desert and meth labs the same representation as California, a state larger than most countries. This is wildly anti-democratic and frankly stupid. I don’t care whether there are two houses to the legislature, but if an upper house needs to exist for whatever reason, obviously it should proportion representation directly to population.

      • stylusmobilus@aussie.zone
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        42 minutes ago

        Yeah I thought the rationale may have been connected to local history and knowledge, just didn’t know what exactly

        I’m so grateful for our Senate, they have stopped some awful things being passed. That said, it’s let us down a couple times as well.

        Unfortunately one huge weakness we have here is one of the majors, the Labor Party, makes decisions in their caucus on bills and not the floor, which means quite often their Senators are voting against their personal will or abstaining. While its upside means they have unity as a party, its downside is that party doesn’t always have our interests at heart.