• commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    16 days ago

    the claim that fptp must force a two-party frame ignores the persistent reality of canada, india, the united kingdom, belgium before 1899, botswana, and papua new guinea. these nations maintain multi-party systems despite winner-take-all rules, proving that social cleavages and regional identity can easily override the supposed mechanical pressure of the ballot box.

    i know what duverger’s law actually says. duverger’s law is a hollow tautology because it defines “success” by the very outcome it predicts; it survives only by dismissing every counter-example as an “incomplete transition” or a “hidden coalition.” if a law is unfalsifiable and relies on shifting definitions of significance to remain true, it explains everything while revealing nothing.