Jean-Paul Faguet

And they brought down one after another of their own prime ministers that they had put in place because individual MPs thought, if I keep supporting Liz Truss, you know, there's no way I'm going to lose. There's no way I'm going to get reelected in my constituency. So even there, there's this kind of escape valve within the party if you have an unpopular or unsuccessful government.

And they brought down one after another of their own prime ministers that they had put in place because individual MPs thought, if I keep supporting Liz Truss, you know, there's no way I'm going to lose. There's no way I'm going to get reelected in my constituency. So even there, there's this kind of escape valve within the party if you have an unpopular or unsuccessful government.

To complete the story, the thinking is that whereas first past the post turned small majorities into big electoral, into big legislative differences that then, you know, strong governments that can do what they want to do. That's a good thing in the sense of getting a big change, sending a big signal and getting differences in policy.

To complete the story, the thinking is that whereas first past the post turned small majorities into big electoral, into big legislative differences that then, you know, strong governments that can do what they want to do. That's a good thing in the sense of getting a big change, sending a big signal and getting differences in policy.

The opposite is the continental proportional representation system where you never really get a clean sweep of government or of political parties. Let's say that you have a new election and then some parties go up a few percentage points and other parties go down a few percentage points.

The opposite is the continental proportional representation system where you never really get a clean sweep of government or of political parties. Let's say that you have a new election and then some parties go up a few percentage points and other parties go down a few percentage points.

And what happens is you get a minor reshuffling of the government, but often it's the same parties or all but one of the same parties in the new government, which looks a lot like the old government. Same people. Yeah. the British and American systems is like clean sweep. It's like, get out of here. We're tired of Republicans. We're going to have Democrats. We're tired of Democrats.

And what happens is you get a minor reshuffling of the government, but often it's the same parties or all but one of the same parties in the new government, which looks a lot like the old government. Same people. Yeah. the British and American systems is like clean sweep. It's like, get out of here. We're tired of Republicans. We're going to have Democrats. We're tired of Democrats.

We're going to have Republicans. Yeah. Right. If things are going pretty well, the continental system is better. Yeah. Right. Because it represents what people, people's honest, um, freely expressed sincere desires better because some people are really sincere green voters and that's what they care about. And some people are really hard right and they're there. They're not being repressed.

We're going to have Republicans. Yeah. Right. If things are going pretty well, the continental system is better. Yeah. Right. Because it represents what people, people's honest, um, freely expressed sincere desires better because some people are really sincere green voters and that's what they care about. And some people are really hard right and they're there. They're not being repressed.

Their voices are being heard. When things go bad, what you actually need is a clean sweep and the continental system doesn't provide it.

Their voices are being heard. When things go bad, what you actually need is a clean sweep and the continental system doesn't provide it.

So I think I would need someone like you to show that mathematically because that's probably beyond my field. But yeah, that's the general wisdom.

So I think I would need someone like you to show that mathematically because that's probably beyond my field. But yeah, that's the general wisdom.

Yeah. Okay. So a quick context, Venezuela was the most sophisticated, the richest, and the most politically stable country in Latin America. Venezuela and Argentina usually were competing to be the richest, but Venezuela has a fair claim for a large part of the 20th century. In the 50s, it looked like it was in GDP per capita terms, because it was only about 20 million people.

Yeah. Okay. So a quick context, Venezuela was the most sophisticated, the richest, and the most politically stable country in Latin America. Venezuela and Argentina usually were competing to be the richest, but Venezuela has a fair claim for a large part of the 20th century. In the 50s, it looked like it was in GDP per capita terms, because it was only about 20 million people.

It looked like it was going to overtake the U.S. The wheels start falling off the cart in 1978. And then in the 90s, things get worse. Hugo Chavez tries to mount a coup. He fails but becomes a big figure and then he actually gets elected president. And at that point, Venezuela goes into really steep decline because these crazy, what he calls 21st century socialism policies, it just like got.

It looked like it was going to overtake the U.S. The wheels start falling off the cart in 1978. And then in the 90s, things get worse. Hugo Chavez tries to mount a coup. He fails but becomes a big figure and then he actually gets elected president. And at that point, Venezuela goes into really steep decline because these crazy, what he calls 21st century socialism policies, it just like got.

Venezuela had had a highly politically mobilized population where 90% of people were members of a party and 90% of, sorry, were registered as voters and 90% of registered voters voted in elections. Wow. Which, compared to the U.S. or the U.K., is crazy. It's wonderful. It's an unbelievable level of political participation. And the wheels totally fall off the cart.

Venezuela had had a highly politically mobilized population where 90% of people were members of a party and 90% of, sorry, were registered as voters and 90% of registered voters voted in elections. Wow. Which, compared to the U.S. or the U.K., is crazy. It's wonderful. It's an unbelievable level of political participation. And the wheels totally fall off the cart.