| From: | "Jiri Polak" <jiri.polak(at)swipnet.se> |
|---|---|
| Date: | Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:06:18 +0100 |
| Subject: | Re: [WDDM] MANY ACTIVE MEMBERS AND VOTERS |
Good Afternoon, Jiri
From your January 14th post:
"The basic fault ... is to call party-based regimes 'democracy'".
From your January 16th post:
"But I - and many others - also want a system where elected
representatives get continuous feedback from their voters who
can recall them at any moment (not only during elecions) if
the majority within the respective constituency demand it."
Have you thought about the way Practical Democracy functions? It
addresses and resolves both the points you make; the first because it
sidesteps political parties and the second because it is inherently
bi-directional.
Political Parties
-----------------
Over two hundred years experience with party politics informs us that,
when politics is based on partisanship, the partisans form oligarchic
power blocs that become an end in themselves and ultimately transcend the
will of the people.
Partisanship is a potent tool for those with a thirst for power but it
does not foster government by the people. It results in government by a
small fraction of the people. For the people as a whole, the flaws in
party politics are devastating. Their cumulative effect victimizes the
public by the most basic and effective strategy of domination --- divide
and conquer.
Parties are important for the principals: the party leaders,
contributors, candidates and elected officials, but the significance
diminishes rapidly as the distance from the center of power grows. Most
people are on the periphery, remote from the centers of power. As
outsiders, they have little incentive to participate in the political
process.
The challenge of representative democracy is not to divide the public into
blocs but to find the best advocates of the common interest and raise them
to leadership positions as the people's representatives.
To meet that challenge, given the range of public issues and the way each
individual's interest in political matters varies over time, an effective
electoral process must examine the entire electorate during each election
cycle, seeking the people's best advocates. It must let every voter
influence the outcome of each election to the best of their desire and
ability, and it must ensure that those selected as representatives are
disposed to serve the public interest.
Practical Democracy allows voters to quickly and easily align themselves
with others who share their views. It changes the focus of advocates of a
partisan position from getting votes for a politician to persuading voters
of the value of the idea they espouse. It lets every faction select, from
among themselves, the best champions of their point of view and raise them
as far as the size of the group allows.
One huge flaw in the party-based systems that dominate the globe is that
individuals must support one of the existing parties or be denied a voice
in the political process. They have no way to prevent the excesses of the
parties.
Practical Democracy gives unaligned people a voice. Those who advocate
partisan interests must ultimately present their point of view to voters
who may not share their view. This provides unaligned people with a
countervailing force that prevents domination by any party.
PD allows, indeed encourages, enclaves to easily form and attract
adherents. As Jane Mansbridge said in The Deliberative System
Disaggregated, "Enclaves are good at generating new ideas. Everyday talk
is good at applying ideas and selecting those best applicable to common
experience." That is how fresh ideas are introduced into society, but
they cannot impose their will unless they are able to persuade the
unaligned of the value of their ideas. PD guarantees that fresh ideas
will be accommodated to the extent they are deemed worthy by the
electorate.
Bi-directionality
-----------------
Practical Democracy is inherently bi-directional. Because each advancing
participant and elected official sits atop a pyramid of known electors,
questions on specific issues can easily be transmitted directly to and
from the electors for the guidance or instruction of the official. This
capability offers those who implement the process a broad scope, ranging
from simple polling of constituents to referenda on selected issues and
recall of an elected representative.
If you are interested in these concepts, the process is described in
Paricipedia at:
http://participedia.net/wiki/Practical_Democracy
I wonder if you'll find value in it.
Fred Gohlke