For instance, in Canada, the French-speaking minority bears far more influence on the whole of Canadian politics than its size and location might suggest because of the way Westminster works. For years the Bloc Quebecois has been a decisive force in federal government policy because the Big Three in Canadian politics — the Progressive Conservatives, the Liberals, and the National Democratic Party — all have pretty stable constituencies, but not one of them has a real majority. This is fundamentally unlike the bipartisan model that US politics has to struggle with; small shifts in population and in public sentiment can result in big shifts in the Canadian political landscape. There is no majority in Canadian federal politics.

This is the same in The Bahamas. There is no majority in either the FNM or the PLP; both receive less than 50% of the popular vote. True, they receive over 45% of the popular vote, which makes them both important players, but the “swing vote” portion of the population has been growing since 1997. (For a fuller analysis, see Larry Smith’s review of the Elizabeth by-election.) It is this group of people — a tiny minority in real terms, but a major force in national politics — which makes the difference in electing governments. And it’s this group of people whose actions in Elizabeth are worth watching.

This is why I’m optimistic. Those of us who are fed up with the normal state of affairs may not be the majority of Bahamian voters — but the good news is we don’t have to be. The larger that group becomes, the more influence we have. A mere 5% of the popular vote, given the almost-equal support garnered by the FNM and the PLP, will make all the difference in the world. So I am optimistic, and I think the time is right to be so.

The utopia you talk about Nico is there any countries in the region that we can look to as a yard-stick ?

Are you suggesting that the Constitution is fundamentally anti-democratic in some way? Or that democracy only works when there is some sort of similarity between the people involved? Not sure what you mean by this question, but if you’re suggesting that the Constitution does not in some way permit direct representation in Parliament, then perhaps it’s time for us to amend the Constitution — drastically.

Perhaps it’s time for us to know what’s in it first, though. For people who have never read it, (this isn’t directed at you, Rick!) click here (Government of Bahamas official site, with disclaimer), or go here (Georgetown University’s repository of international constitutions, without disclaimer).