[That also means that 52% of all votes for House candidates in 2012 no longer have any meaning until the Democrats take back the House. The House of Representatives now acts as a single-party system]

Either Boehner should apply the Hastert Rule to all legislation, or scrap it entirely. None of this 'mix and match' approach. Just ridiculous.

That also means that 52% of all votes for House candidates in 2012 no longer have any meaning until the Democrats take back the House. The House of Representatives now acts as a single-party system, a dangerous practice.

Single-party systems? They are wonderful, aren't they? (irony intended) That's how fascist, commie, and Ba'ath political systems operate.

That is effectively how the House of Commons works. I see no problem with this.

I like him.

Either Boehner should apply the Hastert Rule to all legislation, or scrap it entirely. None of this 'mix and match' approach. Just ridiculous.

Good move, but unlikely to pass the Senate.

Its a start. I hope she calls for a full no-fly zone soon enough.

Yes. I agree.

And President Kennedy gets an early lead over Governor Reagan!  The Democrats appear to be doing very well in the Senate races.  The House Democrats also appear to be making major gains. 

This was bound to happen.

Scranton.

CNIP

I wonder if the Poujadists (excellent name) will have a renaissance like the MSI in Italy.

Federalist, though Nix's endorsement of FPTP could, maybe make me change.

*I don't know if Matt endorses electoral change.

King Yankee.

No of course it isn't, and whoever referred to it as a Nazi Party, is, well, dumb.

[Finally, it's time to end PR-STV; while this system offers some real-life advantages, in Atlasia it's encouraged nothing but boring elections and tactical voting, and it's made real passion subordinate to wanton pandering. We should return to first-past-the-post voting. Easy to count, easy to understand, no more agonizing over preferences. Just vote for your favorite candidate and whoever takes the most votes wins.]

Although the election is only one week away, in many ways it doesn't feel like it. While this presidential race remains competitive, four out of the five regional Senate contests are all but a foregone conclusion. Each of these races is contested only in name; at this point waiting to welcome Yankee, Scott, TNF, and Sbane to the Fifty-Sixth Senate is a formality. Last weekend's special Senate election, which hardly even involved an actual campaign, was no different.

Neither Αverroës from New York nor Matt from Vermont can fix Atlasia's activity problems. Activity levels are largely a reflection of the forum's health. We must instead make the best of what activity we have, and we can only do that by challenging the desiccated system that consistently results in dull, noncompetitive elections - and, in turn, low levels of political engagement.

We need look no further than the Senate Noticeboard to understand how this malaise carries over from our elections to our government. Only twenty-two amendments have been introduced for consideration since the beginning of Fifty-Fifth Senate. At the same time during the last Senate session, over twice as many amendments had been introduced.

Competitive elections in which diverse sets of political views are represented are the cure, and they can only be achieved by changing the system.

We need to consolidate the regions; at no point since I've joined the game have more than three regions hosted active political life, so I propose transitioning from five to three. One need look no farther than the Pacific, which has abolished its government, or the Northeast, where we literally have no one campaigning for any of the five open seats in our regional legislature, to understand how poorly we serve the regions by spreading ourselves too thin. Healthy regions promote engagement and play an important role in both introducing newer players to the game and acting as the federal government's foil. Not only is it possible for minority factions to achieve successes in the regions that they never could at the federal level; they also lend an additional layer of complexity to the game's dynamics by introducing overlapping jurisdictions and regional loyalties to Atlasia's political brew. To improve participation in regional elections, we ought to mandate that they be coordinated with federal elections.

We can also reduce the number of offices at the federal level. Since the Cabinet has perennial activity issues and includes some of Atlasia's least-coveted offices, that's a sensible place to start. However, eliminating the functions served by these offices would be unwise. Therefore, we should move to a semi-presidential system in which the president appoints members of the Senate to serve the functions that we now delegate to the Cabinet.

Finally, it's time to end PR-STV; while this system offers some real-life advantages, in Atlasia it's encouraged nothing but boring elections and tactical voting, and it's made real passion subordinate to wanton pandering. We should return to first-past-the-post voting. Easy to count, easy to understand, no more agonizing over preferences. Just vote for your favorite candidate and whoever takes the most votes wins.

I strongly, strongly agree with this and have thought it would be a good change for a while. If you're elected, I hope you champion this effort. I like the idea of a region reduction, though only if coupled with electoral reform.

Fantastic news. My favourite Senator.

Reagan/Ford!

Reading the write-up, urgh, Kennedy is horrible.

Debs has had enough turns.  Seidel is the best person to take up his mantle.  An anti-war sewer socialist; precisely what we need.

We need to stand with England and TR's abandoned his principles. Clearly Russell/Benson is the only sane choice for socialists!

Thank you.

Obviously I vote Roosevelt. A 'peace' candidate win will be hilariously embarrassing. Entering the war, then bailing straight away.

Bourbon Democrat.

[1] Harper

I love how my sole vote for the McCarthyites manages to win them five seats.

Terrible election laws. Monarchist as always.

I think Winfield's idea about making the titles non-sexist should be considered, but other than that no changes to the naming scheme.

This is essentially my view.

FFs.

Oops I only voted for one.

Arnold it is.

Easily Schwarzenberg

Guardian of the Planet.