If the people who currently vote are a representative sample of all people eligible to vote, this would change nothing at all.
They're not, so what would end up happening is that both parties would spend more time pandering to the people who currently could vote but don't, the additional votes would end up split evenly between the two parties and the difference from the status quo would be modest at best.
First past the post creates a polarized two party system independent of what percentage of the population votes.
> Or, for nobody to vote, which would trigger chaos.
That would never happen because the fewer people who vote the more incentive there is for anyone go to vote, because your vote counts more when other people don't.
It's more effective in general to cast a protest vote for a third party you know won't win than to stay home -- especially since they often need a certain percentage of the vote for ballot access or public financing. And if enough people do that then the third party actually wins. Then ideally they can do away with first past the post.
If the people who currently vote are a representative sample of all people eligible to vote, this would change nothing at all.
They're not, so what would end up happening is that both parties would spend more time pandering to the people who currently could vote but don't, the additional votes would end up split evenly between the two parties and the difference from the status quo would be modest at best.
First past the post creates a polarized two party system independent of what percentage of the population votes.
> Or, for nobody to vote, which would trigger chaos.
That would never happen because the fewer people who vote the more incentive there is for anyone go to vote, because your vote counts more when other people don't.
It's more effective in general to cast a protest vote for a third party you know won't win than to stay home -- especially since they often need a certain percentage of the vote for ballot access or public financing. And if enough people do that then the third party actually wins. Then ideally they can do away with first past the post.