[EM] Feeling left out in Sefton

[Fred Gohlke]

Good Morning, Michael

(First of all, I just found a message from you to me on September 8th. 
I ran across it by accident.  I apologize for missing it.  Perhaps it 
would be better if you clicked on the link with my name at the very top 
of my posts.  When you do that your message comes to me by email.  I'll 
try to respond to the September 8th message as soon as I can.  flg.)

re: "Could the method leave electors feeling left out?  Suppose I 
      am an elector.  I participate in a level 1 triad, but go no 
      further.  The decision process then bubbles up through the 
      higher triads.  This takes about 3 months.  During this 
      period, can I have any influence on the outcome?"

Those who do not advance beyond the lowest levels no longer 
influence the selection process.  Some, as you suggest, may feel 
'left out', particularly since our interest in politics waxes and 
wanes throughout our lives.  That feeling may, and should, spur 
us to try harder in the next election.  Some may not have the 
talent to advance beyond the lower levels, but, some will hone 
their skills, advance, and become leaders.

The important thing is that they have the opportunity.

(I'm adding a footnote on this topic.)


re: "My concern is a feeling of distance.  Mass voting gave me 
      immediacy and equality (however illusory).  We all had a 
      single vote, and we decided the issue in a day.  Suppose 
      detractors are harping on this very point.  Can the new 
      process stand up to their attacks?  If it is not popular, 
      it will fail."

The parenthetical expression 'however illusory' is a serious 
reservation.  As much as some people get a sense of immediacy and 
equality, others are alienated by being called upon to vote on 
people and issues chosen by others.  That is one of the reasons 
for the lag in voter turnout.

I don't think it's widely recognized (except by political 
professionals), but public involvement in political affairs is 
adversely affected by the confrontational nature of partisan 
politics.  The significance of adversarial relationships is 
greatest for the principals.  Thereafter, it diminishes as the 
distance from the adversaries grows.  This is evident in all 
conflicts from sports and games to politics and war.  Partisan 
politics puts most people on the periphery, remote from the 
process.  Their interest lags and they don't participate.  The 
only way to raise the interest of the people on the periphery is 
to make them part of the process.

Footnote:

There is a possible exception to the exclusion for those at the 
upper levels who do not advance.  The proposal, as prepared for 
the Sefton Municipal Council, is for the selection of candidates 
for the council.  The original proposal is more extensive.  It 
includes the following:

  "The public has a tendency to think of elections in terms of 
   just a few offices: a congressional seat, a senate race, and 
   so forth.  There are, however, a large number of elected 
   officials who fill township, county, state and federal 
   offices.  The structure outlined here provides qualified 
   candidates for those offices, as follows:

     At a predefined level (determined by the number of offices 
     to be filled), the two candidates not selected to advance 
     to the next level move into a parallel process leading to 
     selection for offices; first in the local, then the 
     county, then the state, and, finally, the national 
     governments."

An additional provision, suggested by a colleague but not yet 
added to the text of the proposal, is that those not selected at 
the uppermost levels become a pool of validated candidates from 
which appointive offices must be filled.

Fred