Originally Posted by
BlackPeter
Democracy means "a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives". Clearly the National system is more democratic ... they use elected representatives (who have the full vote), while the Labour system is undemocratic, given that members have just 80% of the votes and the balance goes to people without any stakes in the party.
Anyway - no matter the "democraticness", the National way to do it is clearly more clever. The people who need the best leader to succeed are supposed to pick him / her. Nothing wrong with this philosophy. If they are not successful, than they all will lose their job next election round. Quite strong incentive to pick the best candidate.
Labour's system however allows the unions (who have no stake in a Labour government) to be king maker. Not clever, particularly if the majority of the union members feel that National would anyway better represent the workers (as they do).
Anyway - don't worry about it and just continue to do what you are doing. Looking forward to enjoy many more years of National lead government. As a union member and National supporter I would pick Little as leader of Labour as well :p. Honestly - could you imagine a less effective leader than Little (given the options)?