[EM] Public parties: a Trojan Horse in the party system

[Michael Allan]

Ed and Peter,

Ed Pastore said:
> I think what might help here is if you present an elevator pitch for
> the whole concept. ... In written form, that means something like a
> paragraph.  Can you encapsulate the whole idea that way? ... and
> then perhaps the particulars will sort themselves out internally...

Suppose we had an election-methods expert cornered on the elevator.  I
would pitch it as a technical challenge, like this:

  Consider that an open primary is like a political party in which the
  members are the general public.  If such a "public party" were to
  succeed in building a primary turnout to rival that of the major
  political parties, then it would come thereafter to win all
  elections.  Is this likely to prove true, or false?  [1]

If the experts in the EM list find no fault with the argument, then it
might be worth pitching to a wider audience.  Maybe as a slide show?

But Thomas's idea of forcing open Facebook is equally promising, as is
Mitch's offer to share/mirror votes at a technical level. [2][3]


Peter Zbornik said:
> I think de-constructing the political party is a good idea.  Your
> primary electoral system could work out after practicalities having
> been sorted out.

Thanks Peter for looking at the argument.  I like how you refer to it
as de-constructing the political party.  I think that's technically
correct.

> However your proposal almost exclusively focused on the primary
> electoral system and not the primary legislative system.  After the
> top candidates of the public party have been elected in all public
> elections, then what happens?

I should add something about this to the wiki.  Each public party has
a primary legislative system and all the systems are interlinked by
the vote mirroring network.  Each person is thus free to choose a
toolset and practices that meet his/her personal needs.  Elected law
makers may also participate if they wish.  If a majority of them
happen to agree to a primary bill at some point, they may floor it in
the legislature and promulgate it.  Their re-election prospects will
be simultaneously revealed in the electoral primaries, which continue
to run non-stop.


 [1] The detailed argument is here:
     http://metagovernment.org/wiki/User:Michael_Allan/Public_parties

 [2] http://metagovernment.org/pipermail/start_metagovernment.org/2012-July/004898.html
     BTW, vote mirroring is also an original idea of Thomas's.

 [3] http://metagovernment.org/pipermail/start_metagovernment.org/2012-August/004910.html

-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, +1 416-699-9528
http://zelea.com/


Ed Pastore said:
> Responding to Michael's full response to me, below. I guess I don't get how the system then takes hold in the public consciousness. We know build-it-and-they-will-come doesn't really work most of the time for this sort of thing. We need a really compelling motivation.
> 
> I think what might help here is if you present an elevator pitch for the whole concept. If you're not familiar, the idea is you are in an elevator with a significant person and have until you get to her floor to introduce yourself and sell your idea to her. In written form, that means something like a paragraph. Can you encapsulate the whole idea that way? That may make it easier for people to wrap their minds around the whole general concept, and then perhaps the particulars will sort themselves out internally...
> 
> (Note, elevator pitches can be quite hard to develop. There's a famous Pascal line at the end of a long missive that translates basically to: "I made this letter very long, because I did not have the leisure to make it shorter.")


Peter Zbornik said:
> Hi Michael,
> 
> Thank you for structuring up the discussion.
> I think de-constructing the political party is a good idea.
> Your primary electoral system could work out after practicalities having
> been sorted out.
> However your proposal almost exclusively focused on the primary electoral
> system and not the primary legislative system.
> After the top candidates of the public party have been elected in all
> public elections, then what happens?
> 
> Peter