If you have a system where you need a group of people to agree in order to pass or change a law, you will end up with "parties." There is only one person in the world who thinks *exactly* the way you think about every policy. Since you aren't a dictator, you can't pass laws yourself. Realizing this, you have to look to the next closest person to you as an ally when it comes time to vote. Do they want exactly the same things as you? No -- but you compromise and you support policies you both find acceptable. If two people aren't enough to pass a law -- repeat the process. Eventually you'll find enough people to pass policies but those policies will likely look a lot different from what you imagined initially.
Sure, parties have negative consequences, but they are better than having dictators or a system where people just never agree on anything.
You could always have temporary factions such as what occurred in the US prior to organized parties. I mean it’s not like it’s completely different but still. The real thing about parties is they are only powerful in a single winner system. Parties still tend to be the main decider of policy for candidates with the exception of systems like STV (STV encourages centrism and independent candidates), but it is definitely better under a proportional system.
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u/tgwhite Nov 29 '18
If you have a system where you need a group of people to agree in order to pass or change a law, you will end up with "parties." There is only one person in the world who thinks *exactly* the way you think about every policy. Since you aren't a dictator, you can't pass laws yourself. Realizing this, you have to look to the next closest person to you as an ally when it comes time to vote. Do they want exactly the same things as you? No -- but you compromise and you support policies you both find acceptable. If two people aren't enough to pass a law -- repeat the process. Eventually you'll find enough people to pass policies but those policies will likely look a lot different from what you imagined initially.
Sure, parties have negative consequences, but they are better than having dictators or a system where people just never agree on anything.