La représentation proportionnelle

Proportional Representation and the Recent Electoral Law of the Grand Duchy of Finland

Text and Commentary

Jean Deck and G. von Wendt

Foreword

Jean Deck

All is bad for those who feel the need, growing ever more pressing, for a representation that is truly proportional, and especially for those who demand the introduction of a list system with proportional representation. A commission was appointed to study this reform. Its efforts have not yet been adopted and applied, though political elections have long studied and always distorted proportional representation by means of gerrymandered constituencies, by refusals to recognize candidacies, and by other abuses. But here is the Grand Duchy of Finland, which has adopted a system that addresses two opposed requirements: the simplicity of the mechanism and a flexibility of certain importance that deserves the fullest attention. It seems wise to introduce proportional representation into Finland, for it is a question of reforming the electoral system and the diet itself. The reform of the diet originates closely in the “revolution” of November 1905. I shall recount the events, as I have begun to do, in the Cahiers. For the moment, it will suffice to recall that, faced with popular demonstrations, the senate resigned. The emperor published on November 4 a manifesto announcing among other things the convocation of a diet charged with reforming the parliamentary system, on the basis of universal, direct, and equal suffrage without distinction of sex.

The manifesto said nothing about the electoral system. Discussions began at once in the press, freed from all censorship. Among the publicists who campaigned in favor of proportional representation, the principal credit belongs, I believe, to a non-specialist, Doctor G. von Wendt. In a series of articles…

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[Note: The source OCR text of this cahier runs to over 3,100 lines, heavily degraded by OCR artifacts. The readable text comprises Jean Deck’s foreword and G. von Wendt’s detailed analysis of proportional representation as applied in the Finnish electoral reform of 1906, including the text of the electoral law, commentary on the voting mechanism (the d’Hondt method adapted for Finnish conditions), and reflections on its applicability to France. A full translation will require dedicated attention to the complete readable text, including the technical electoral law provisions.]