DavidCooper wrote:
One idea I'd like to see tried out is real democracy. We are only allowed to vote for one of a number of mixed packages of good and bad policies once every few years, and we usually have to vote for the one that will do the least damage rather than the one that would do the most good. That gives us insufficient control - indeed, it's hardly any control at all.
I know exactly what you mean.
DavidCooper wrote:
We need to be able to vote on individual issues. We could easily do this with today's technology, because there's no cost to having votes on everything open all the time. We wouldn't need elections or political parties any more, but would simply change our votes on any issues whenever we see a reason to do so. If something in the news leads to enough people changing their vote on a specific issue, the government would then be required to act on that change, though only after a delay long enough for the change in vote to be reversed after further discussion if that discussion reveals it to have been a bad idea. This would give us dynamic control and lead to rapid evolution towards the best set of policies instead of bouncing between two or three old traditions in the way we do now.
The German Pirate Party tried something like that. They called it Liquid Democracy and it sounded good. Didn't work, tho. Since everything was to be decided by holding a vote all the time, the party never had a firm stance on anything. Therefore they failed to convince many voters and sank into obscurity. And, doing it this way left them open to attacks from the outside. Radical feminists (not the usual kind, more like the "Newton's Principia is a rape manual" kind) would just show up with all their friends. Since the party was small, this tactic guaranteed them a local majority, and then they would vote for the most crazy policies it was possible to vote for. Thereby solidifying the image of the party as a lunatic fringe party in the eyes of many voters, further pushing the party into obscurity.
So yeah, the idea is nice but exploitable.
Also, don't underestimate the time investment: Switzerland has direct democracy on the federal level. And it is a huge burden on the average Swiss, since they have to inform themselves on the matters that are to be voted on. Most people don't have time for that. I can't be knowledgeable about economics, medicine, sociology, whatever other matters may affect public policy, and do my job at the same time. I would rather have an economist handle the economy. Mind you, these days I get an economist handling public medicine, and an MD that never practised a day in her life managing the army. OK, she's managing the EU now. As if she had any ability for that, either.
Though I do see one possibility to get the government back on track: Make people interested in politics again. There is one place (was it in Switzerland?) where voting is mandatory (i.e. not voting nets you a symbolic fine), and they regularly have the highest voter turnout. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, so having the people constantly look over your shoulder might make the more conscientious politicians reconsider immoral actions.
bzt wrote:
I don't see how that would help. Knowing that they have only a limited time to make a fortune, I believe if anything, this would make politicians even greedier and more willing to accept bribe.
Possibly. It is a trade-off. My system would have the world's rulers constantly inexperienced, which is also not a good thing. I think we need to do a better job selecting our leaders. But often, before the people get involved, there is already a filtering process going on that ensures that only the most brain-dead zombies show up on the ballot. And then you have to choose the one that does the least amount of damage, as DavidCooper just described. Here in Germany, if you want to be a Chancellor, the only chance you have is to become leader of the conservatives or the social democrats. No other person has ever been Chancellor. And you get into those positions only after decades of sycophancy, So in the end, the people have to vote for which old sycophant they find the least distasteful. Is it any wonder that all positions even close to getting there are filled with spineless worms? Never express anything so racy as a political opinion; people might disagree with you. Just keep your mouth shut and the people will at least not have reason to dislike you.