We talk about political enlightenment being the way to get more women in politics, despite what I think is an obvious correlation, at least, which doesn't imply causality or coincidence between PR systems and the participation of women in politics. However, then we switch to talking about a PR system and how we would have a proliferation of small parties and it would be unworkable.
I wonder where the call to political enlightenment is there. If political enlightenment is an efficient way of delivering more women into politics, I don't see why, if we're capable of being politically enlightened in that sense under a first past the post system, the same kind of goodwill and political enlightenment wouldn't mitigate toward less regional politics within a proportional representational system.
I've been struggling with the presentation of your concepts that are meant to do work, on the one hand, which is to get women into politics. We don't need any particular systems or rules about that. We're going to do it because we're great politicians and we care about the country and this is important, so let's get it done. However, under a PR system, all that political enlightenment and goodwill would evaporate. We wouldn't have it anymore, and we would revert to petty regional politics.
I'm finding it hard to square your optimism about our capability as politicians with your pessimism about a proportional representation system.