There are different mechanisms at play, and they are very important.

Thank you, Astoria Bob, for a second reply. I like that. It means there is some real engagement going on.

You are correct about the complexity of government and about governing well.

Let me first point out the many different ways proportional voting differs from picking a king or queen for the district.

• First of all, the voters have choices in proportional voting. There is no race going on. One can focus on the political ideals and the political ideals only (that are fully hemmed in society of course). No one will be much involved with strategic voting.
• All votes are expressed at the table (with a truly small group of people not picking someone electable). Each voter can walk up to communicate with a person at the table who has the same political mindset.

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The part that is more interesting occurs on the other side of the table:

• The ones desiring to be our political representatives find themselves in a field of many electable candidates. Competition is real all of a sudden.
• The ones making it to the table have to deal with real needs that are now really expressed at that table. The agenda is not set by one group, but rather is an agenda of equals. The group at the table is full color. It is no longer red and blue (or just red or just blue at the local tables of decision making). If orange isn’t delivering, then orange is replaced by pink before you can say pink.
• The chance to get reelected diminishes with proportional voting. Competition is stiff, so if someone didn’t deliver? Bye-bye. If they did deliver, they can stick around, but no one can dance that well for more than four songs.

Politicians are younger in proportional voting. I believe the average age is about five years younger for proportional than for district voting. The leaders may show their old faces because it takes a while to reach the top, but on average politicians are younger because they can’t sustain their run that long.

We have many old farts in politics. We have a slow waltz going. Proportional voting is upbeat music and you better not have a 7 in front of your age. Man, that is ancient.

The big benefit of proportional is that the rope between politicians and the voters is that much shorter. That lifts up the importance of the voters, and that brings down the (ab)use of power by the representatives.

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Last group: special interests.

• Special interests are out in the open, out there together with their candidates. There is no hanky-panky behind the scenes like there is here with special interests handing out money to candidates on both sides. Naturally, deals are made because that is the job of politicians.
• Often not mentioned as special interests: lawyers. In proportional voting, there are far fewer attorneys and lawyers at work in society. With many sides present at the table, laws are created that make better sense to all. Better laws, fewer disagreements.

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There is something called the fourth power and it points to the administrative layer.

• Those working for the city, for instance, people that have been around for thirty years will have garnered cloud. They are functioning in jobs while politicians come and go. As such, they are indeed as you point out a group of people that can influence the outcomes.

But the political arena can move in faster there, too, than here. Aspects that are not taken care of well are addressed faster in proportional representation. Voters can act quickly and with specific issues.

Did we just reach heaven? No, we’re still on the ground and we are still dealing with human nature. But the political system is no longer the big obstacle like in district voting. There is no political gap.

The only downside to proportional voting, and I have mentioned this before, is when there are twenty little parties, none of them empowered. I really believe that six or seven parties should be the max and three empowered parties can already make each party more honest.

At the local level, with often no more than 7 or 9 seats, having too many parties is not an issue at all. Nine seats and one has probably three parties, maybe four. Maybe two parties plus two differently colored peeps. The point is that in proportional voting the voter has the power. There is no gap in representation and the question is not: Parties vs. individual representatives? but rather: How do we address the needs of the voters best?

Thank you again, Astoria Bob, for being interested in how we govern ourselves. All we need is one substantial break-through in one of our 30,000 cities, townships or counties, and the world learning about it.