[Election-Methods] Partisan Politics + a method proposal

[Fred Gohlke]

Good Evening, Juho

Before considering the selection method your suggested, I would like to 
comment on one passage in your message.  You mentioned my, "... interest 
to allow the ordinary people to make the decisions ..."

That is not exactly where my interest lays.  The point of the method I 
outlined is that we do not know down which streets, in which villages, 
at which desks, before which stoves are those of us most competent to 
serve in our government.  We know individuals of exceptional talent and 
character are uniformly distributed throughout the population, but we 
have no means of identifying them.  In terms of political leaders, 
finding the best of them is further hindered by the fact that each 
individual's interest in politics waxes and wanes throughout their lives.

Because our physical needs often dictate the course of our lives, most 
of those who would make the best leaders are unaware of their political 
talents and are never able to exercise them.  We do not know which 
individuals will thrive and blossom when their reason is consulted, when 
they are invited to discuss current and prospective concerns, when they 
learn they can persuade their peers of the value of their ideas.  We 
will all benefit if we can devise an electoral method that encourages 
all people to exercise their wit and wisdom, their persuasiveness, their 
pride, their knowledge and understanding, and their desire to make a 
mark for themselves.

They are out there.  Can we find them?  My interest is in doing so.


re: "One can nominate candidates for some office/task freely."

In the course of outlining this suggestion, you mention several aspects. 
  I will summarize my understanding of them ...


* Nominations are open to the entire electorate.


* Anyone can nominate anyone else, including oneself, for office, 
provided the nominated person accepts the nomination.  If restrictions 
on the nominations are established, they might include:

- an educational minimum

- if expertise is required in the area for which the person is 
nominated, a degree symbolizing competence in that area.

- if trust is required in the area for which the person is nominated, 
support of at least 100 persons in addition to the nominator, expressed 
by email or in some other form.


* Nominations (the name of the nominator and nominated) are recorded by 
an election coordinator.


* The election coordinator publicizes the list of candidates.


* The public votes for the candidate of their choice ...

- by voting for a single person, or

- by making a list of the candidates the voter approves, in which case 
the candidates are listed in order of preference.  If the first 
candidate on the list does not get sufficient first place votes for 
election, that candidate is dropped from the list and the second 
candidate moves into the first position on that ballot.  In this case, 
since anyone may nominate anyone else, voters may write the name of 
their candidate on the ballot.

- the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes wins.


* Alternately, the preceding process is used to select those who will be 
candidates for election.  Then, after these candidates are presented to 
the voters, an election determines the winner.


* The purpose of the method is to ...

- make candidacy available beyond the incumbent power structure.

- replace candidates who want a particular job with candidates the 
people want in that job.

- allow the election of good and competent candidates.

- favor candidates who are preferred by one voter and attract the 
support of many voters.

- eliminate the need for a candidate to fight his way against challengers.

- be fair to minorities.


* The challenge of the method is to insure that the person elected is 
the best for the job.

You also mentioned the possibility of direct democracy and delegable 
proxy.  As to these ...


* I find the description of direct democracy vague.  The references I 
see to it assert it is an absolute good without taking the trouble to 
explain how that absolute good will work in practice.  The closest 
analogy I've been able to draw is a desire for anarchism.  Personally, I 
don't find that appealing.


* Delegable proxy, to the extent I understand it, is the height of 
folly.  The explanation I saw of the method was that a voter could give 
someone else his proxy, to vote as they see fit.  As I said once before 
on this topic, such a method would have proxies available on eBay before 
the ink was dry on the enabling legislation.



That summarizes my understanding of your suggestion.  It raises some 
questions:

Will the lists become unwieldy if the process extends beyond the local 
community?  For example, the number of candidates nominated for governor 
of my state could be immense.

Does nominating someone for public office suggest a beneficial interest 
in that person's election?  If so, should we be concerned?

When the list of candidates for a given office is published by the 
election coordinator, will the candidates campaign for the office for 
which they have been nominated?  For example, when you mentioned that 
candidates would be "presented to the voters" does that mean they will 
campaign?

At the moment, my grasp of your suggestion does not allow a firm 
opinion.  Can we flesh out parts of it with greater detail?

Fred