HOW THE EVILS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM WILL BE REMEDIED.
From the inception of the representative system it has been usual to
elect representatives in small districts, returning only one or two
members, and the single-membered electorate is now almost universal. In
the early Parliaments, however, elections were not contested as they are
nowadays. It was merely a choice of the most suitable men to represent a
corporate local community. Hence an indirect method of election was
generally resorted to, the final choice being left to a small committee
of the most important men. With the gradual rise of the party system the
conditions entirely changed; and it is important to gain a clear idea of
what is involved in the change.
In the first stage we have referred to it is not probable that there
were any candidates at all. The position of member of Parliament was not
sought after; it was rather thrust upon the man selected as a duty he
owed the community. The choice would usually be unanimous, since there
would be some men whose recognized influence and attainments would mark
them off as most fitted for the position. If there was any difference of
opinion it would be merely as to who was best fitted to represent all,
and therefore there would never be any excluded minority.
The essential difference in the second stage is that every election is
contested by two organized parties. The choice is now not of men only,
but of measures and of men as well. It is a contest in the first place
within each party as to who is best fitted to represent the party, and
in the second place between the two parties for the support of the
people. The party in a majority secures all the representation; the
party in a minority none. Now, the minority is certainly not represented
by the choice of the majority; on the contrary, its views are exactly
the opposite. Hence the question arises: Is not this exclusion of the
minority an injustice? Does it not amount to disfranchisement? The usual
reply is either that the majority must rule or that the injustice done
in some electorates is balanced in others, so that in the long run rough
justice is obtained.
As to the first contention, it is the party which has the support of a
majority of the whole people which should rule; and the excluded
minority in some of the electorates belongs to this party. The second
practically amounts to the statement that two wrongs make a right.
A practice prevails in the United States which will illustrate the
position. Each State sends a number of representatives to Congress
proportional to its population, and the division into electorates is
left to the State. By manipulating the electoral boundaries the party
which has a majority in each State is enabled to arrange that the
injustice done to itself is a minimum, and that the injustice done to
the opposing party is a maximum. By this iniquitous practice, which is
known as the gerrymander, the party in a minority in each State is
allowed to get only about one-half or one-quarter of its proper share of
representation. But as the practice is universal in all the States, the
injustice done to a party in some States is balanced in others. Will
those who seek to excuse the injustice done to the minority in each
electorate by the present system of election seriously contend that the
same argument justifies the gerrymander?
The truth is that the present system has survived the passage from the
first stage of representation into the second, not because it does
justice to both parties, but because it has operated largely to prevent
the formation of more than two parties. It has, therefore, been a means
of giving effect to the central feature of representation, viz.: the
organization of public opinion into two definite lines of policy. But it
is a comparatively ineffective means, and it no longer suffices to
prevent sectional delegation in any of the democracies we have examined.
Besides, it is accompanied by a series of other evils, which in so far
as they lead to the suppression of responsible leadership, tend to the
degradation of public life. We propose now to consider the effect of the
reform in remedying these defects of the present system.
+Parties Not Represented in the Legislature in the Same Proportion as in
the Country.+--Representation under the present system is purely
arbitrary; the amount which each party secures is a matter of chance. If
a party with a majority in the whole country has a majority in each of
the electorates it will secure all the representation. On the other
hand, if it splits up its votes in each electorate, or even only in
those electorates where it has a majority, it may secure none at all.
Theoretically, then, any result is possible. The argument would lose its
force, however, if in practice the result usually came out about right.
But this seldom happens, and, speaking generally, two cases may be
distinguished: first, when parties are nearly equal, the minority is
almost as likely as the majority to return a majority of the
representatives, thus defeating the principle of majority rule; and,
second, when one party has a substantial majority, it generally sweeps
the board and annihilates the minority. A few examples will illustrate
these facts.
The 1895 election for the Imperial Parliament is analyzed by Sir John
Lubbock in the _Proportional Representation Review_. He shows that out
of 481 contested seats, the Liberals, with 1,800,000 votes were
entitled to 242, and the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists, with
1,775,000 to 239, a majority of three seats for the Liberals. But the
Conservatives and Unionists actually returned 279, and the Liberals only
202, a majority of 77 seats. The Conservatives and Unionists obtained
also a majority of 75 of the uncontested seats, giving them a total
majority of 152, instead of the 72 to which they were entitled.
Recent elections for the United States Congress are shown by Professor
Commons to present striking inequalities. At the election for the 51st
Congress, 1888, the Republicans polled 5,348,379, and the Democrats
5,502,581. But the Republican minority actually secured 164 seats
against 161, a majority of 3, and were enabled to carry the McKinley
tariff law. For the 52nd Congress, 1890, the Republicans, with 4,217,266
votes, only elected 88, while the Democrats, with 4,974,450 votes,
elected 235, and the Populists, with 354,217 votes, elected 9
Congressmen. The Democratic majority should have been only 2, instead of
138. Compared with the 51st Congress, their proportion of the popular
vote increased only 1 per cent., but their proportion of the
representatives increased 21 per cent. It required 47,923 votes to elect
a Republican, 44,276 to elect a Populist, and only 21,078 to elect a
Democrat.
To come nearer home, did not Mr. Reid return to power at the 1898
election in New South Wales although the Opposition polled a majority of
15,000 against him? The last election in Victoria illustrates nothing so
much as the chaotic state of parties, brought about by newspaper
influence in promoting false lines of division. No less than 30 seats,
representing 81,857 votes, were contested only by candidates who
professed to be Ministerialists of various shades. Of 52 seats contested
by Ministerial and Opposition candidates, each party secured 26; but the
Ministerialists paid 59,255 votes for their seats as against 44,327 cast
for the Opposition. 13 seats were uncontested, 9 Ministerial and 4
Opposition, giving a total of 65 members to the Ministerial party and 30
members to the Opposition.
The arbitrary and haphazard character of these results is obvious. It
would be entirely removed by the reform. Every election would reflect
the true feeling of the country; the right of the majority to rule would
be rendered certain, and the right of the minority to a fair hearing
would be assured. Taking the country as a whole, the Ministerialists
would pay almost exactly the same number of votes for each seat as the
Opposition. In each separate electorate the accuracy would not be so
great, but the rectification of even this slight and unavoidable
inequality would, instead of being arbitrary, be subject to the laws of
chance.
+Ineffective Votes.+--Under the present system, all votes cast for
rejected candidates are ineffective; therefore nearly one-half of the
electors have no voice in the Government. A Liberal elector may live in
a Conservative constituency all his life without having the opportunity
to cast an effective vote. The evil of popular indifference is largely
to be explained by this fact. It is no answer to say that it affects
both parties equally. The trouble is that nearly one-half of the
electors of each party have no influence in deciding who are to
represent the party, and therefore do not help to frame its policy.
This evil would also be entirely removed. Every vote cast would count to
one or the other party. It is not necessary that every vote should be
counted to some one candidate, as the advocates of the Hare system
claim. Votes given to rejected candidates would be in effect just as
much transferred to the successful candidates as by the Hare system.
Moreover, it is an important gain that the candidates of each party
would be ranged in order of favour, as the relative position of the
candidates would be an index of the feeling of each electorate, not only
as regards men but also as regards measures. Therefore, even the votes
given to rejected candidates would affect the framing of the party
policy, and show the progress of public opinion.
+Uncontested Seats.+--At the 1895 election for the Imperial Parliament
no less than 189 seats out of 670 were uncontested. Thus one-quarter of
the people had no opportunity of expressing any opinion. In Australia
the proportion is often quite as large. The present Legislative Council
of Victoria is an extreme instance. One-third of the Council retires
every three years; and at the last election not a single seat was
contested. Only 4 out of the 48 sitting members have had to contest
election. Under these circumstances the holding of an election at all
becomes a farce. No doubt it is very convenient for the favoured
individuals; but as the primary object of elections is the ascertainment
of public opinion, it is very desirable that every seat should be
contested.
The chief cause of this evil is that when one party is strong in an
electorate it is hopeless for the minority to contest it, unless the
majority nominates more than one candidate. On the other hand, the
majority knows that if it does split its votes the minority will
probably win the seat. The result is that the sitting member has a great
advantage, and is often tolerated even though he is acceptable to only a
minority of his own party.
With the reform each electorate would become the scene of a contest
between the two parties for their proportional share of representation.
It is very unlikely, indeed, that in any electorate no more candidates
would be nominated than are required to be elected.
+Limitation of Choice.+--Even when seats are contested, the elector's
choice is very limited under the present system. Wherever party
government is strong, each party nominates only one candidate, owing to
the danger of splitting up its votes and so losing the seat. The elector
has then practically no choice. He may disapprove of the candidate
standing for his own party, but the only alternative is to stultify
himself by supporting the opposing candidate. If in disgust he abstains
from voting altogether, it is the same as giving each candidate half his
vote. Even when two or three candidates of his own party are nominated,
and he supports the one whose views coincide most closely with his own,
he can exert very little direct influence on the party policy. Besides,
he will often think it wise to support the strongest candidate rather
than the one he favours most.
These considerations show what a very imperfect instrument the present
system is for expressing public opinion. The test which should be
applied to any system of election is whether it allows each elector to
express his opinion on general policy, and from this point of view the
present system fails lamentably; all opinion which does not run in the
direct channel of party is excluded. Mr. Bryce has fixed on this defect
as the weak point of the party system, but the fault really lies in the
limitation of choice connected with the present system of election. It
is quite true that "in every country voting for a man is an inadequate
way of expressing one's views of policy, because the candidate is sure
to differ in one or more questions from many of those who belong to the
party."[4] But if, in the first place, the incentive to limit the number
of candidates be removed and the field of choice widened, and if, in the
second place, each elector be allowed to vote for several candidates
instead of one only, the defect would be remedied. Now, the reform makes
both these provisions, and the importance of the improvement can hardly
be overrated. It means, first, that every elector will be not only
allowed, but also induced, to express his opinion on general policy. He
may give his votes to candidates either for their general views or for
some particular view; or, if he lays less stress on measures than on
men, he may give them to men of high character or of great
administrative ability. It means, secondly, that every section of
opinion composing each party will be fairly represented, and that none
will be excluded, because the candidates of each party will compete
among themselves for the support of all sections, in order to decide
those most in general favour. Hence every section will directly help to
frame and influence the party policy, and there will be not the
slightest excuse for independent action outside the two main parties. In
the third place, it means the substitution of individual responsibility
for the corporate responsibility of parties, since the electors will
have the power to reject those who wish to modify party action in any
direction contrary to the general wish. It means, finally, that every
elector's opinion, as expressed by his vote, will have equal influence
in deciding the direction of party action.
+Control of Nominations.+--There is a constant incentive with the
present system of election to limit the number of candidates to two, one
representing each party. For if either party splits up its votes on more
than one candidate it will risk losing the seat. But the necessity to
limit the candidates involves some control of the nominations, and this
is perhaps the worst feature of the system. It means that, instead of
the electors being allowed to select their representative, he is chosen
for them by some irresponsible body. We have seen how in the United
States the nominating system is the source of the power of the "boss"
and the "machine;" and the same result is only a matter of time in
British countries. The registration of voters is not yet conducted in
the same rigid manner as in America, nor is the farce of holding a
primary election gone through; but whether the control be exercised by a
political organization, a newspaper, a local committee, or a secret
society, the principle is the same. Mr. Bryce has noticed the rapid
change in the practice of England on this point:--"As late as the
general elections of 1868 and 1874 nearly all candidates offered
themselves to the constituency, though some professed to do so in
pursuance of requisitions emanating from the electors. In 1880 many--I
think most--Liberal candidates in boroughs and some in counties were
chosen by the local party associations, and appealed to the Liberal
electors on the ground of having been so chosen. In 1885, and again in
1892, all, or nearly all, new Liberal candidates were so chosen, and a
man offering himself against the nominee of the association was
denounced as an interloper and traitor to the party. The same process
has been going on in the Tory party, though more slowly. The influence
of the locally wealthy, and also that of the central party office, is
somewhat greater among the Tories, but in course of time choice by
representative associations will doubtless become the rule."[5] Is it to
be expected that this power will not be abused as in America? The
trouble is that no association can represent all the party electors, and
that the representative becomes responsible to the managers of the
association, to whom he really owes his election. Any control of this
kind is fatal to the principle of responsible leadership. And yet the
only alternative with the present method of election is the break-up of
the party system. This is the dilemma in which all modern democracies
are placed. The evil will be completely obviated by the reform. Instead
of limiting the candidates, it will be to the advantage of each party to
induce the strongest and most popular candidates to stand on its behalf,
since the number of seats it will obtain depends only on the aggregate
votes polled by all the candidates. With individual candidature there
can be no "machine" control of nominations. All are free to appeal
directly to the people.
+Localization of Politics.+--The local delegate is unfortunately the
prevailing type of Australian politician. The value of a member is too
often measured by the services he renders to his constituents
individually or the amount of money he can get the Government to spend
in his constituency. Hence the nefarious practice of log-rolling in
Parliament. Is it any wonder that some of the colonies promise to rival
France in the proportion of unreproductive works constructed out of loan
money?
How few of our members approach the ideal expressed by Edmund Burke in
his address to the electors of Bristol:--"Parliament is not a congress
of ambassadors from different and hostile interests, which interests
each must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and
advocates; but Parliament is a deliberative assembly of our nation, with
one interest--that of the whole--where not local purposes, not local
prejudices, ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the
general reason of the whole. You choose a member, indeed, but when you
have chosen him he is not a member of Bristol, but he is a member of
Parliament." It must be confessed, however, that Burke's ideal is rather
exalted; it is the duty of a member to make known the requirements of
his district. It is the ministry which is specially charged with
looking after the interest of the whole and of resisting illegitimate
demands. But it cannot do so if its position is so insecure that it must
purchase the support of the "parish pump" politician.
The only way to nationalize politics is to ensure that every electorate
shall be contested on national issues by organized parties, and that
every locality shall be represented on both parties. The proposed system
will provide this remedy. In enlarged electorates each party will take
good care that its candidates are men of local influence in the most
important divisions of the electorate; therefore, sectional and local
interests will be represented, but they will be subordinated to the
interests of the whole electorate; and where there are a few large
divisions the interests of each will more nearly coincide with national
interests than where there are a large number of small divisions.
Besides, log-rolling will not be so easy between groups of
representatives as among single representatives.
+Incentive to Bribery and Corruption.+--We now come to a class of evils
which to a large extent result from the fact that a few votes in each
electorate decide whether a party gets all the representation or none at
all. Candidates are impelled, in order to gain support from every
faction, to acts degrading to themselves and destructive to the moral
tone of the people. Foremost among these evils is the great incentive to
bribery and corruption; it is manifested not only in direct expenditure
at the elections, but also in promises of patronage and class
advantages. Direct bribery is perhaps worst in America; Professor M.
Cook states, in a paper on "The Alarming Proportion of Venal Voters" in
the _Forum_ for September, 1892, that in twenty-one towns of Connecticut
16 per cent, of the voters are venal. As Professor Commons remarks:--"It
is plain that the bribable voters themselves are adequate to hold the
balance of power between the parties. The single-membered district,
therefore, places a magnificent premium upon bribery." In England the
_Corrupt Practices Act_ has done immense good: nothing reflects so much
honour on the Imperial Parliament as the voluntary transference of the
duty of deciding cases to the judiciary. In Australia this much-needed
reform has not yet been introduced, and direct bribery prevails to a
much larger extent than would be supposed from the number of cases
investigated. Members of Parliament are naturally loth to convict one of
their own number, and the knowledge of this fact prevents petitions
being lodged.
The mere existence of secret bribery is bad enough, but a greater danger
is that acts of indirect bribery are openly practised, with the tacit
approval of electors. "There have been instances," says Mr. Lecky, in
his "Democracy and Liberty," "in which the political votes of the police
force, of the P.O. officials, of the civil service clerks have been
avowedly marshalled for the purpose of obtaining particular class
advantages--a disintegrated majority is strongly tempted to conciliate
every detached group of votes." In Australia this has become a regular
practice; and a still worse feature is that Members of Parliament have
free access to public departments to promote class and local interests.
Class legislation is frequently brought forward on the eve of an
election with the sole object of influencing votes. These conditions
favour the wire-pullers and mere self-seekers, and, in so far as they
prevent the electors from voting on the political views and personal
merits of the candidates, they are inimical to the public interests. Mr.
Lecky has pointed out that a certain amount of moral compromise is
necessary in public life, and that a politician may indulge in
popularity-hunting from honourable public motives; the danger is that
unworthy politicians may screen themselves under shelter of this excuse.
We do not claim that the proposed system would abolish corruption, but
we are justified in hoping that it would mitigate it very much. Even if
the venal vote still held the balance of power between parties, parties
are not so easily corrupted as individuals. But the most important gain
is that it could only exert an influence proportional to its numbers; it
could not decide whether a party gets all the representation or none at
all, as at present. In most cases it would be doubtful if it would
affect a single candidate. Consider, again, the case of individual
candidates of the same party; any candidate resorting to bribery in
order to increase his chance of election would do so partly at the
expense of the other candidates of his own party, who would immediately
denounce him. Instead of being forced to conciliate selfish factions,
the candidates would be free to appeal for the support of the unselfish
sections.
+Continual Change in Electoral Boundaries.+--The irregular growth of
population necessitates a periodical revision of the electoral
boundaries of single-membered electorates. Owing to the influence of
vested interests, this is generally effected in an arbitrary manner; and
the glaring anomalies only are rectified. We have in Victoria at the
present day some country electorates with 6,000 electors on the rolls
and others with only 1,500. An elector in the latter has four times the
voting power of an elector in the former. The process of alteration of
the boundaries offers great temptation to unfairness; and in American
politics the opportunity is taken full advantage of by a practice which
has received the name of the gerrymander. In his work on "Proportional
Representation" Professor Commons writes:--
It is difficult to express the opprobrium rightly belonging to so
iniquitous a practice as the gerrymander; but its enormity is not
appreciated, just as brutal prize-fighting is not reprobated
providing it be fought according to the rules. Both political
parties practise it, and neither can condemn the other. They simply
do what is natural: make the most of their opportunities as far as
permitted by the constitution and system under which both are
working. The gerrymander is not produced by the iniquity of
parties, it is the outcome of the district system. If
representatives are elected in this way there must be some public
authority for outlining the districts. And who shall be the judge
to say where the line shall be drawn? Exact equality is impossible,
and who shall set the limit beyond which inequality shall not be
pressed? Every apportionment act that has been passed in this or
any other country has involved inequality; and it would be absurd
to ask a political party to pass such an act and give the advantage
of the inequality to the opposite party. Consequently, every
apportionment act involves more or less of the gerrymander. The
gerrymander is simply such a thoughtful construction of districts
as will economize the votes of the party in power by giving it
small majorities in a large number of districts, and coop up the
opposing party with overwhelming majorities in a large number of
districts. This may involve a very distortionate and uncomely
"scientific" boundary, and the joining together of distant and
unrelated localities into a single district; such was the case in
the famous original act of Governor Gerry, of Massachusetts, whence
the practice obtained its amphibian name.[6] But it is not always
necessary that districts be cut into distortionate shapes in order
to accomplish these unjust results. (pp. 49, 50.)
He illustrates a gerrymander which actually made one Democratic vote
equal to five Republican votes. We have quoted this description of the
methods of the gerrymander not so much because the evil has attained any
magnitude in Australia as because it offers a warning of the probable
result of adopting the single-membered district system for our Federal
legislature.
With enlarged or grouped electorates the periodical revision of
boundaries would be entirely obviated, because the size of the
electorate may be kept constant, and the number of representatives
varied. Under such a system all unfairness would disappear, and the
gerrymander would be impossible. Representation would automatically
follow the movements of population.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] Bryce, "The American Commonwealth," vol ii, p 325
[5] Bryce, "The American Commonwealth," vol. ii., note on p. 81.
[6] Governor Gerry contrived an electorate which resembled a salamander
in shape.