[EM] Conceiving a Democratic Electoral Process

[Fred Gohlke]

Good Afternoon, Michael

I'm working my way through your proposal.

It is not entirely clear how a group can have the form of a party 
without the substance.  To the extent that people organize, they cannot 
escape Robert Michels' dictum:  "It is indisputable that the 
oligarchical and bureaucratic tendency of party organization is a matter 
of technical and practical necessity.  It is the inevitable product of 
the very principle of organization".

This may be a semantic problem; perhaps some word other than 'party' 
would better fit the case (public body?).  In any event, acquiring "the 
labour, money and other resources needed to make it happen" is non-trivial.

The "argument of inevitable success" may be a bit optimistic.  Like all 
political ideas, this one bears the burden of persuading a large portion 
of the population to adopt the method.  Perhaps some form of telephone 
application could go viral.  That might gain adherents quickly but might 
also turn into a passing fad.

There are two worrying aspects about the proposal.  One is the lack of a 
way for the people to carefully examine candidates to determine their 
ability and integrity.  The other is that the concept may be susceptible 
to media-induced frenzies.

One thought that struck me while studying the proposal was the 
similarity to Michael Moore's We Want You (www.wewantyou.us).  If a 
combination of that effort and your ideas is possible, it might be 
beneficial.

Fred