[EM] Conceiving a Democratic Electoral Process

[Michael Ossipoff]

> 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.

Sorry, but that's nonsense.

Referring to the old Eastern-Bloc, and to Nazism, Fred is referring to two
specific systems which weren't democracies, even in pretense.

To say that all ideologies differ from them only to the extent that they
succeed in having influence or (even publicly supported) power is
ridiculous. Your ideology can be a democratic one, you know. Are ideologies
that include democracy really like Hitler or Stalin? And please don't use
our current system here as an example to embarrass democracy. Not everyone
agrees that it's a democracy.

If you don't like parties, then most or all democracies, actual and
proposed, will let you vote for an independent. But perhaps you want to
take away others' freedom of association.

Typically,more than one person agree about some policy proposals, and if
they agree on enough of them, they can publish a common platform. But
you're free to not vote for them, and to, instead, vote for an
independent.  Hopefully your independent, too, publislhes his policy
proposals.

It sounds more than a little undemocratic, to ask how we can prevent
parties from gaining office. But, if that's your goal, then I would offer
to you this suggestion: Vote for independents.

Most, nearly all, of Continental Europe uses party-list PR. They seem to
have done pretty well,democracy-wise, during the time that they've had
that electoral system. Have you heard about the open-list PR systems used
in some European countries? The voters determine the order in which
candidates will fill any seats won by a party.

I suggest that your villainization is misplaced.

But don't get me wrong. I have nothing against independents, provided that
they publish a policy platform.

But I suggest that some ballot-simplification is gained, by having a few
distinct policy platforms on the ballot, and preferably some way in which
the people who like their platform can select their candidates.

Mike Ossipoff
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