[awjlogan]

Gerrymandering is different to the system itself getting less democratic. The UK Electoral Commission is meant to be non-political in setting boundaries. Obviously, there will be pressure applied for advantage but, frankly, that's how adversarial politics works. As I pointed out, you get groups who are over represented as well. While FPTP is not 1:1 mapping of voters to representation, it's still democratic, particularly in a representative democracy, as "the people" choose someone to represent them.

Watching PR in action in Europe, I also don't think it's the panacea some people see it as. The horse trading happens behind doors when forming coalitions, rather than upfront, at least in theory, in a manifesto. It seems to start promisingly, but fragments to the extent that there is no stable government formed (Belgium), or a minority government that can't actually do anything (France), or having to bring in formerly shunned "unpleasant" groups (as I mentioned before, I can see there are pros and cons to that) because voters are so disenchanted with the disfunction (Germany) they don't vote for the more palatable options anymore.

I don't have a good answer to what is "better", but the main thing in any democracy is to get informed and vote. Even if you are in a location where your vote is taken for granted or diluted, it is still pressure on the main parties to change their position (vis UKIP and the Conservatives) as votes slip away quickly.

[CaptainMarvel]

I think we actually agree a lot and I appreciate your reflection on voting systems and democracy.

I agree with you that FPTP is democratic, and that you get groups who are over-represented (such as your example with SNP).

I respect your point about deficiencies with alternative voting systems as seen in other countries in Europe, and do distrust anyone that promises a panacea in general.

I couldn't agree more about being well-informed and actually voting.

I also agree with your earlier points that I didn't mention in my other comment, about other recent anti-democratic measures (specifically Voter ID), and your particularly prescient point about a partial driver of Brexit.

That last point is something that I've thought about a lot, and I think it's worth pondering more.