2014-5 Ukraine (letter sent to OSCE etc.)

The Ukraine is only the latest in an increasingly long line of countries - Bosnia, Kenya, etc. - where western advice first suggests a majoritarian form of democracy - a zero-sum form of majority rule, either single party or, if need be, a majority coalition; then, when it all goes horribly wrong, an opposite is recommended - an all-party coalition.  Surely, it would be wiser to start with the latter.

Would it not also be sensible to advocate a more inclusive electoral system?  Indeed, in Ukraine, the zero-sum elections of recent years - Yanukovich v Yushchenko, Yanukovich v Tymoshenko - were part of the problem.  Better, as a minimum, the original US system where not only does the winner become the president, but also the runner-up becomes the vice or deputy.  Better still a preferential system such that, in effect, voters are asked to cross at least one party- if not inter-communal-divide.