[EM] Practical Democracy (and primary rule making) with Votorola

[Michael Allan]

> re: "Should these people be allowed to shift their votes?  You
>      asked specifically about the possibility of *guiding* those
>      who are already elected."
>
> I don't want to waffle, but I can't give you a categorical response to your 
> question because it presumes an infrastructure different from the one I had 
> in mind.  The circumstances you describe are, essentially, an 
> implementation of direct democracy.  That does not make it bad.  In fact, 
> it might be quite good, but I think it goes beyond representative democracy 
> and the heart of my proposal is to harness human nature to the task of 
> improving the quality of the people who represent us in our government.

Yes, I understand.  Your method (PD) is electoral, and your question
about post-election guidance was only a side-topic.

> When I spoke of 'guiding' our representatives, I was thinking in terms of a 
> means by which an elected official's constituents could communicate their 
> opinions and attitudes.  More, I suppose, like letters to the editor than 
> voting.  It's true that I also envisioned the possibility of referendum and 
> recall ... which would certainly involve voting ... but I don't favor 
> carrying that capability to every nitty-gritty detail of government.

Primary rule making is not the kind of post-election guidance you were
thinking of.  OK.

> If one's goal is direct democracy, your suggestion is exemplary (although I 
> think it might be cumbersome in practice and would effectively restrict 
> participation to those who express themselves well in writing).

Literary skills are not required of the voters, per se.  Only the
drafters need such skills.  An illiterate voter may still participate
(as a voter), if she can speak.

> re: "You were concerned about manipulation.  Do you still think
>      the process can be manipulated?  In the context of these
>      scenarios, what form would the manipulation take?"
>
> In the context of the scenarios you described, I'm hesitant to offer an 
> opinion.  Even though I can imagine such silliness as an adjacent homeowner 
> inveighing against the proposal because she doesn't want sand blowing onto 
> her dinner table, I really don't think manipulation would be a serious 
> problem in the scenarios you described.  However, when we are talking about 
> elevating candidates for public office by the Practical Democracy method, 
> when the higher levels are reached, the likelihood that vested interests 
> would conduct campaigns to get voters to switch their votes is immense.

Perhaps so.  But in the electoral context, there is no vote shifting.
PD does not allow it.  (Other methods do, but that's another story.)

> Were these two comments responsive to your questions?  I've had a major 
> influx of family members over the past few days, here to help celebrate my 
> impending 80th birthday, and I fear my focus is not all it could be.

Happy birthday!

Those questions of mine are not relevant, unless you wish to pursue
the side topic.  The main topic is the implementation of PD elections
using Votorola software.  (If I left any of your own questions
unanswered, please prompt me.)

> On another topic, I've been a member of World-Wide-Democracy.net (WDDM) for 
> a few years, but have not been active for about two years.  It occurs to me 
> that your work might be of great interest to the people at that site.  You 
> can find them at:
>
> http://www.world-wide-democracy.net/Wiki/WddmWikiMain

You might mention it to them, if you think so.

-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, 647-436-4521
http://zelea.com/