|
|
Article: Can Israel's electoral system be fixed? Try as he might, David Ben-Gurion could not reform Israel's electoral system, which gives extraordinary power to small parties. Today, a new generation of reformers takes on the challenge.
- Article from:
- Moment
- Article date:
- May 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Moment Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
There was a reason that Israel's wild-haired, hardheaded founding father and first prime minister named himself Ben-Gurion, Hebrew for son of a young lion. Born David Grun, the charismatic Polish-born leader with a forceful personality and a streak of realpolitik was accustomed to confronting difficult problems--and having his way with them. One of the greatest challenges he faced was transforming the fledgling country's political system.
The electoral process aroused in BenGurion more anger and annoyance than any other institution he took part in creating. "In our electoral system," he said in 1954, "the citizen has no right to ...