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| Jaymar Bonet |
By Jaymar Bonet, Class of 2014
Dr. Vincent Boudreau, Director of Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies, came to the University of Louisville and gave a seminar entitled “Legacies of Contention in Southeast Asian Transitions: Some Lessons from the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar.” What caught my attention was the Party List System. I found this interesting. This is where voters choose between parties instead of candidates. The point of this system in the Phillipines is to increase representation and democracy. Eligible parties should be sectoral groups or other cause iriented groups.
What made me really listen was that Dr. Boudreau related the system to the "kids' table at Thanksgiving." You feel good because you are at the table with a bunch of people but you are not really "important." Some say that the party-list system is being abused and that groups aren't really representing the poor. So, is this system ven worth keeping? There are articles and information that support both sides. It is utimately up for one to decide on their own.
Jaymar Bonet, of Hardin County, Ky., is a junior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville. She is studying Spanish and political science.