The Project Gutenberg EBook of Proportional Representation Applied To
Party Government, by T. R. Ashworth and H. P. C. Ashworth

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Title: Proportional Representation Applied To Party Government

Author: T. R. Ashworth and H. P. C. Ashworth

Release Date: December 25, 2004 [EBook #14459]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION ***

Produced by Martin Pettit and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION APPLIED TO PARTY GOVERNMENT

A NEW ELECTORAL SYSTEM

BY

T.R. ASHWORTH (_President of the Victorian Division, Australian Free
Trade and Liberal Association_)

AND

H.P.C. ASHWORTH (_Civil Engineer_)

LONDON

SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO., LIM.

PATERNOSTER SQUARE

1901

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I.--THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL REPRESENTATION 1

II.--THE SO-CALLED REPRESENTATIVE PRINCIPLE 22

III.--THE PRESENT POSITION or PARTY GOVERNMENT 47

IV.--THE REFORM: TRUE PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION 97

V.--HOW THE EVILS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM WILL
BE REMEDIED 122

VI.--THE HARE SYSTEM OF PROPORTIONAL DELEGATION 141

VII.--THE FREE LIST SYSTEM OF PROPORTIONAL
DELEGATION 162

VIII.--PREFERENTIAL VOTING, THE BLOCK VOTE,
THE LIMITED VOTE, &C. 172

IX.--ATTEMPTS TO IMPROVE THE PRESENT SYSTEM 188

X.--APPLICATION OF THE REFORM TO AUSTRALIAN
LEGISLATURES 194

XI.--THE CONDITIONS OF SOCIAL PROGRESS 208

"Majority and minority, in and for themselves, are the first
requisite of popular government, and not the development or
representation of separate groups."--Bradford's "Lesson of Popular
Government," vol. ii., page 179.

PREFACE.

The subject of electoral reform has been brought into prominence in
Australia by a clause in the Commonwealth Bill which provides that the
Federal Senate shall consist of six senators f