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is this considered a high voter participation?

given the general disgust with the direction of the country by overwhelmingly large majorities of people in the us, and the raw amount of cash which is going to be spent convincing people there's really something to vote for in coming months, i'd somehow expect more.

in any event, high 50's, low 60's, distinction without a difference...

Nil aon leigheas ar an ngra ach posadh

by redstar on Fri Mar 28th, 2008 at 11:30:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I think that the differences between candidates are often less in Western Europe, particularly as regards economic policy. Think Germany - Schroeder 'cut taxes for the rich, cut social spending on the poor, deregulate' vs Merkel 'more of the same' though it is true that in rhetoric the SPD has recently moved left. I don't follow Spanish politics as closely so the Spanish could correct me if I'm wrong, but I also don't see massive differences in what the PP and Socialists were proposing in the economic sphere - the big debates tended to be what the US calls 'social issues' and the specifically Spanish ones of centralist nationalism vs accomodation with the regional nationalisms. The practical difference between the left and right on economics in Italy seems to be crony capitalism and corruption. France's recent elections were indeed marked by sharp contrasts in economic policy, mais la France ce n'est pas l'Europe, contrairement a ce que certains Francais pensent.

Or to put it in different terms, in Western Europe the debate tends to be Left: move the system slightly to the right or leave it where it is vs. right move the system to the right a bit more. In the US it is move the system to the left, albeit to a position still to the right of where Western Europe is, or move it even further to the right.

by MarekNYC on Fri Mar 28th, 2008 at 12:24:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
vote die linke, and have my voice represented in parliament and in state and local government. And in france i can (and often do) vote pcf the same way.

funny how representative democracy can be...well...representative.

Nil aon leigheas ar an ngra ach posadh

by redstar on Fri Mar 28th, 2008 at 01:39:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You don't really have that option in France on a national level because France isn't a PR system, except for the sufferance of the PS, the PCF would be even more marginal than it already is. The communists in France are more comparable to an organized pressure group within the Dem Party than to a genuine independent force, a much less powerful left wing version of the DLC if you will. In Germany, however, you're right.

 In any case your examples point to a separate problem for   would be economically left wing voters in Europe - i.e. that their political representatives aren't able to bring themselves to fully get over their longstanding belief that left wing economic policies have to come with repression and dictatorship.

by MarekNYC on Fri Mar 28th, 2008 at 02:35:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I think you underestimate the power of the PCF and candidates in certain circumsciptions in Paris, Lyon and Marseille and in the north. In some of these circumscriptions the PS stands no chance against the PCF. And in municipal government this is also true.

In decline? Certainly, has been for a long time. But still there are pockets of resistance. And there have also been other periods of decline followed by big come-backs. And my guess is that there will always be at least a dozen in parliament, no matter what the PS tries to do.

Nil aon leigheas ar an ngra ach posadh

by redstar on Fri Mar 28th, 2008 at 03:53:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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