Word: systemics
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...deluge of change without the co-operation of a host of civic units-the universities, the neighborhoods and local businesses alike. The task of getting this co-operation-and of providing a leadership to direct the course of Cambridge for the next decades-falls primarily upon the political system of the City...
Cambridge is the only City in the country which elects its councillors through Proportional Representation (PR). Under this electoral system, voters list their choices for council seats in descending order of preference. (1, 2, 3, etc.) From the total number of votes cast, the exact number a candidate needs to win is calculated. When one candidate meets this quota from his "number one" votes the remaining ballots with his name on them are given to the "number two" candidate marked on each ballot. The ballots of candidates who have the fewest "number one" votes are also given to the "number...
...structure of politics which evolved under Cambridge's PR-Council-Manager system was one admirably suited to its chief problems of five, ten or twenty years ago, which were to maintain peace among the sometimes antagonistic groups making up the City to give each its fair share of services, and to make sure that taxes did not increase over-much...
Though many of these tasks still remain important in City politics, the current period of change is making new demands on the political system. The housing convention, for example, has in essence been asking the council to take some decisive action against the forces which appear to be transforming-Cambridge into a new, predominantly middle-class city. Such demands for more active political leadership are something new in Cambridge...
...outcome is not yet clear. The remedies needed to case the changes now threatening the old Cambridge are not obvious: they may not even exist. Finding out if they do exist, and mustering the unity needed to implement them remains the most difficult job the City's political system has faced in memory...