Voting is good, but I wish it was Better

The power to vote is what gives you a say in how a country is run. This is an important right, but how good is the implementation ...

In today's electoral systems there are often two parties that are so strong that people are almost forced to pick one of them - if you vote for a minor party (assuming one exists that more closely fits your views) then your vote is of less value as you aren't making a difference to the race for which party wins.

I think there are problems with these systems -
There should be no drive to vote for one of the more major parties (a small party that matches your views should be the best option)
There should be clear explanations about the policies of all parties
There should be strong reasons why the parties will have to implement the policies they represent once they are in power (the party in power should be taking the approach of here are what our policies were and here is how we carried them out & how successful we were, followed by what they are going to do next)

No, I don't have a good solution, though I wish I did :-(
The current approach of ridiculing the opposition and saying how dangerous or ineffective they would be needs to stop.