[EM] Conceiving a Democratic Electoral Process

[Fred Gohlke]

Hi, Juho

re: "Yes, I agree that parties typically have tendency to drive
      the system towards oligarchy and not towards (more voter
      controlled) democracy."

Precisely.  And that knowledge urges us to 'think outside the box' - to 
'go where no man has gone before.'  We need new thinking.  We need a 
fresh approach that seeks out and elevates our best advocates of the 
common interest in a way that leads, inexorably, to reaching our common 
goals.


re: "Sponsoring is a separate topic."

Absolutely not!!!!

Sponsorship is the heart of party power.  Their ability to choose and 
sponsor the candidates we are allowed to vote for gives them control of 
the entire political process.  They write the rules by which the 
government functions, sell legislation to vested interests, and choose 
candidates committed to enact the laws written for them by the people 
who finance their election campaigns.  It would be hard to imagine a 
more dangerous political arrangement.


re: "I agree. But in democracies the voters can (at least in
      principle) kick the worst of the partis out of power."

Are you speaking of the way the people kicked the National Socialists 
out of power in Germany in the last century?  It took a lot of people to 
do that and it cost a lot of lives (not all of them German).  Must we 
repeat our past mistakes?


re: "There is one fundamental problem here. If you want to change
      the direction or avoid this kind of developments you need to
      co-operate with other people. When you form such a co-
      operation group you already possibly form a new party (or a
      group that later becomes a party)."

This touches on the crux of the matter.

Partisanship is natural for humans.  We seek out and align ourselves 
with others who share our views.  Through them, we hone our ideas and 
gain courage from the knowledge that we are not alone in our beliefs. 
Partisanship gives breadth, depth and volume to our voice.  In and of 
itself, partisanship is not only inevitable, it is healthy.

Unfortunately, partisans have a penchant for denigrating those who think 
differently, usually without considering the salient parts of opposing 
points of view.  Instead, they seek the power to impose their views on 
those who don't share them.  Communism and National Socialism showed 
these tendencies.  Both had features that attracted broad public support 
throughout a national expanse and both degenerated into destructive 
forces because their partisans gained control of their governments.

The danger in Communism and National Socialism was not that they 
attracted partisan support; it was that the partisans gained control of 
government.  In general, partisanship is healthy when it helps us give 
voice to our views.  It is destructive when it achieves power.  All 
ideologies, whether of the right or the left, differ from Communism and 
National Socialism only in the extent to which their partisans are able 
to impose their biases on the public.

Partisanship is a vital part of society - provided it is always a voice 
and never a power.  The danger is not in partisanship, it is in allowing 
partisans to control government.

We have the tools and the ability to conceive a non-partisan electoral 
method.  Let's start.

Fred