A bit baffled

Well, the election here in Iceland is scheduled for April 25th, and I must confess my genuine lack of understanding of this process. That Iceland has 5 political parties I think I get, also that more might be formed before the election. That there are 4 districts for the country side and several more (not sure how many) for the heavily populated area between Mosfellsbaer and Keflavik (including most importantly the capital!) I can also grasp, even if I'm fuzzy on the details. It seems some sort of an attempt to balance the needs of representation by number with representation by area. But then my understanding peters out. There is something about each party having a list of candidates for each district, and there are people in the first seat, second seat, and third seat of that list. At first I thought this meant they were competing with each other, but that is not the case. So I find myself wondering if basically a voter here in Iceland chooses a political party to vote for, and not an individual candidate, and that their vote therefore goes to the three people on the list for that party. I cannot tell you how strange that idea seems to me, so much so that I have a feeling I must be wrong. I hope one of my readers will enlighten me. 

Comments

Iris said…
Even so I gave a presentation about Icelandic elections in a Scandinavian Politics undergrad class one, I don't remember the first thing about it.
However, in Germany you ALWAYS vote for the party (not the chancellor candidate). The names listed for the second cross you make is people you want to see in the parliament. I hope someone will be able to explain the Icelandic system to you. But I find it a LOT stranger to vote for a person who is supposed to run the country. After all I'm interested in the platform of the party that is running the country.A chancellor is always bound by his/her party's platform. I find that less - royal. The president always struck me as a fancy version of a monarchy.
February 16, 2009 at 10:43 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared). Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart. In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so. Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October. Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow
Read more

Twitterverse

Although this is a function of the specific feeds I have chosen to follow, I have observed that Icelanders are much funnier on Twitter than Americans are. Americans tweet their opinions on political matters in categorical, condemnatory terms, or they use Twitter to bolster their professional expertise, a la LinkedIn. So kudos to the Icelanders for understanding the potential of the medium and maximizing it.
Read more

The sky weeps

For the last few days, the sky here in the San Francisco Bay has been filled with smoke, blown this way from a fire 100 miles away. At least 40 people died in that fire, a whole town destroyed, and many others missing. One reporter described the sky over the town as raining down ash. On this day, the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I, the news in the US is filled with stories of the man who calls himself President, unwilling to step out into the rain to lay a wreath. Unwilling to partake in our communal, world wide weep. And I'm thinking about my trip to Iceland on Thursday, of the carbon dioxide the plane will be spewing into the sky. My third round trip from SF to Iceland this year, and I don't have anyway to make up for my carbon footprint. But in all honesty, I'm also wondering how bad the weather will be, if I'll have to be out braving wind and snow for the shot the documentary film maker wants, of me walking around outside. Will the landscape reme
Read more