Israel will elect a new Knesset on March 17, 2015. This will be the first election in which a party needs 3.25% of the total vote cast instead of just 2% to earn seats in the body. The change was made in March 2013. Israel’s form of proportional representation has long been criticized on the basis that too many parties win representation.
Just hope this doesn’t result in the evolution of a so-called “Two Party System” such as we have in the United States. Israel is the only “democratic” state in that region of the world and hope it remains as such.
Israel is *democratic* because of the P.R. system.
The EVIL monarchs/oligarchs in the regime increased the threshold percentage.
FATAL defect in the Israel regime – the PARLIAMENTARY system —
the same robot party hacks having both legislative and executive powers = 2/3 TYRANTS.
IE – With 100 percent P.R. something will happen with EVERY legislative bill – it will or will NOT be enacted by a majority of the members of the legislative body.
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P.R. and nonpartisan App.V. — which includes having MAXIMUM separation of powers
— one of the very few inventions to reduce the odds of having tyrant regimes.
See Spirit of the Laws — by the *celebrated* Montesquieu (1748) — just in time for the American Revolutionary WAR and the 1776 State Constitutions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_legislative_election,_2013
2013 Israel election
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Israel
Election system
How many parties are allegedly TOO MANY parties ???
The EVIL top Donkey and Elephant HACKS in the USA would likely LOVE to have ONE party rule in the USA — i.e. TOTAL Donkey or Elephant CONTROL of ALL LAWS.
Israel is “democratic” despite the P.R. system. Get your facts straight.
“Israel’s form of proportional representation has long been criticized on the basis that too many parties win representation.” LOL. I long for the day when the US Congress has this “problem.”
4 or 5 major parties with instant run-off would be ideal for the United States or any country. I too long for the day when the U.S. Congress has too many parties represented.
“Israel is the only “democratic” state in that region of the world and hope it remains as such.”
So a) Kuwait and Turkey aren’t democratic somehow? and b) you hope no more “democratic” states come about in the region? I trust b) is just a product of word choice though.
DSZ:
Israel allows all religions to practice their faith without oppression from the government, and it allows all political parties to operate without oppression from the government – unless a group uses religion or politics to cause the people of Israel harm.
Perhaps you may know, but I don’t know if such is true for people living in Kuwait or Turkey.
Democracy = Majority of the Electors directly or indirectly control LAW making.
Monarchy/Oligarchy = Minority Rule
[ALL monarch regimes are obviously oligarch regimes since even the worst monarch ever needs lots of help in enforcing monarch laws — think Stalin and Hitler.
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NONSTOP minority rule oligarchs in control of the States and USA regime since 1776 and 1789 respectively.
I.E. NO so called *Golden Age* in any of such govts.
I.E. special interest gangs at work nonstop – causing special interest laws to get enacted and enforced.
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P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
Israel’s changes to a higher threshold is a bad mistake and they’re are raising instead of lowering the threshold.
The correct percent in pure proportional representation 120-member assembly is;
Closest to a 1/121-wy tie, where one vote breaks the tie for the first 120 names.
1/121 = .82% (plus one vote) and 120 X .8 (plus one vote) = 98.4% (plus 120 votes) guaranteed minimum voter satisfaction level.
The threshold should be .82 in the Hagenbach-Bischoff method.
Do you like pure proportional representation (PR)? The 9th USA Parliament has been using it for 19 consecutive years and it works fine.
Check out our United Coalition web page and learn about how our team is winning elections:
http://www.usparliament.org/usap-wp
The point is that the threshold has been raised in an attempt to exclude the Israeli Arab parties from the Knesset – two of which are currently represented (along with a third party with mainly Arab support). I can only hope that Israeli Arabs will react by raising their historically low levels of turnout in Knesset elections. Arabs form 20% of the official Israeli population (this does not include Arabs on the West Bank or Gaza – who unlike Jews in those areas – are not recognized as Israelis).
I’ll not even talk about certain Israeli parties plans to disfranchise the Israeli Arabs on racial grounds. Israel is currently a democracy – but there are plenty there trying to turn it into the new South Africa.
The idea that members of one religion are automatically given citizenship, even if the person was not born Jewish but converted, and people who live in permanently annexed territories are not (see East Jerusalem) automatically shows there is not freedom of religion in Israel. Add the relative impossibility of Israeli Arabs to get building permits or move to most Jewish areas and the law which makes it a crime to proselytize and you start to see a pattern, all aided by american tax dollars. This law is specifically to eliminate most Arab representation in the Knesset. Finally, while there is significant ethnic and political strife in Turkey, the government is not particularly hard on most people for strictly religious reasons (though some Sufis, Bahai and certain Christians may say otherwise). The Kurds, for instance, are not mostly of a different religion.
The Jewish people are spiritually blind, but they are still God’s chosen to bring the Savior of the World – Jesus Christ to all of mankind of all colors, cultures, tribes, and tongues. God gave the land of Israel to the tribes of Israel some 4 thousand or more years ago, and admittedly there are some who have committed “unChistlike” acts against non-Jews, and others.
Still, notwithstanding their errors, the government of Israel has attempted to maintain a democracy, as compared to some countries of that region of the world.
The Jewish people are spiritually blind, but they are still God’s chosen to bring the Savior of the World – Jesus Christ to all of mankind of all colors, cultures, tribes, and tongues. God gave the land of Israel to the tribes of Israel some 4 thousand or more years ago, and admittedly there are some who have committed “unChistlike” acts against non-Jews, and others.
Still, notwithstanding their errors, the government of Israel has attempted to maintain a democracy, as compared to some countries of that region of the world.