Political systems Which type of democratic system is better?
Should a country adopt a democratic system and which system should it adopt? How can Singapore change its political system?

The best examples of democratic systems are the US and the UK systems. Both of them are flawed. 

The US political system is dysfunctional. They have a president that acts in an erratic manner and they are unable to control his excesses. The three pillars of power - legislature, executive, judiciary, takes conflicting positions on many issues. 

The UK system is generally satisfactory, but the inability of their parliament to agree on the terms of Brexit shows its limitations. 

One key weakness of the democratic system of "one man one vote" is that the person who is elected comes from a party who makes bold promises in their manifesto which are often not achievable. 

There is also the risk that the successful candidate has ample funding from vested interest, and have to abide by their donor's wishes after their election.

What other forms of government can be considered?

Here are some possible approaches:

a) Proportional representation, as practiced in some countries, such as Germany
b) Direct democracy, as practiced in Switzerland
c) The communist party system.

I prefer the direct democracy practiced in Switzerland. On major issues, the voters are asked to give their preference in a referendum. The results of the referendum guide their legislature in passing the laws of the country.

I also like the proportional representation system. Apart from candidates that are elected directly, each political party is able to nominate additional representatives to their legislature based on the votes that they received in the general election.

I also like the communist party system. Most people think that it is not democratic, but they may not realize that their leaders, at various levels of the party, are elected democratically within the party. Furthermore, the party members are politically aware and can make better decisions, compared to an open democracy where many of the voters are not politically aware.

For a small country like Singapore, it is probably best to adopt the Swiss system of direct democracy. 

Tan Kin Lian

Vote - do you agree with my suggestion to go for direct democracy.


 

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