E.J. Dionne: Is Democracy As We Know It Unraveling?

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I don't think democracy is unraveling in the British example

Yes, the SNP could take more than 50 out of the 59 Scottish seats (actually, a poll today says they might even win every single one of the 59 - because their share of the vote now appears to be 54%, with Labour second on just 20%). But in a winner-takes-all system, having more than twice the support of the 2nd place party should get you a huge win.

That Labour and the Tories will only get about a third of the vote each isn't in itself a problem; in many countries, that's par for the course. A two party system doesn't have to be what countries hope for. The SNP is not that far left (from 2007 to 2011, they were a minority government in Scotland; sometimes it was the Conservatives voting with them that got a policy through). The Lib Dems are centrist; UKIP is not actually going to win many seats, because, again, of the winner-takes-all system.

That Syriza won in Greece isn't a problem either; a left wing (not extreme left) party gets a chance to sort out a situation the others have failed at. That looks like typical democracy to me.