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Article: Will Canada seriously consider electoral system reform? Women and Aboriginals should.
- Article from:
- Inroads: A Journal of Opinion
- Article date:
- January 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Inroads, Inc. 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)
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Donley T. Studlar is Eberly Distinguished Professor of Political Science at West Virginia University. He has published extensively on Canadian topics, including gender representation in legislatures and provincial cabinets.
For some time, Canada's first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system has been subjected to criticism for increasing the regional distinctiveness of the party caucuses in Ottawa. In a plurality system, the one candidate with the most votes, not necessarily a majority, wins the single seat in the district. A party with a substantial vote over the country or even a region has sometimes received few parliamentary seats in return.
In ...