[EM] Conceiving a Democratic Electoral Process (Primary Thoughts)

[Michael Allan]

Fred Gohlke said:
> The party leaders would choose candidates who could be relied upon
> to fulfill their obligation to the party for its support of their
> candidacy, but who would appeal to the broadest possible spectrum of
> voters.  In other words, it would cause the party leaders to feign
> centrism while picking candidates that ensure the party leaders will
> maintain their power.

Yet given the assumption of equality, the party leader is formally on
a level with any party member.  Each has a single vote at each step of
the primary, including nomination.  With the further assumption of
universality (eliminating c), the members of the opposing parties are
now given a vote, as are the members of no party (N).  The primary
electorate for party P is therefore:

  P + Q + R + ... + Z + N  =  everybody

The same applies to each of the other parties Q, R, etc.  Each has the
same primary electorate.  It is therefore likely that each will make
the same decision and sponsor the same candidate.

Given the assumptions (for which I still owe an answer), is this true?
If true, what effect would it have on the parties?

> While the idea of opening primary voting to the public would almost
> certainly reduce the power of political extremists, it does not give
> the people a way to determine the character and integrity of the
> candidates.  The process does not include careful examination of the
> candidates - except by the self-interested party leaders.  The
> people have no choice but to use the (mis)information disseminated
> by the parties and the candidates to try to choose a trustworthy
> individual from the slate of candidates.
>
> Is that a reasonable assessment?  Are there other possibilities?

Yes to both.  You look at the whole cloth which is always reasonable.
Another possibility is to tug at a single thread.  As you pointed out
earlier, the parties have no clothing except what they wove for
themselves.  They have no support in Anglo-American constitutional
law, nor in French.  They remain unattached and external to the basic
structure of modern democracy in those places where it first evolved.
The next step in its evolution could easily see their elimination.
Easy come, easy go.

-- 
Michael Allan

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