Fri 3 Nov 2006
My Constituents Weigh In
Posted by william under Direct Representative Democracy , Politics & World , Social MusingIn response to my post on introducing a political party whose only platform plank is to deliver representation for the riding’s voters, we had insightful comments from both Jocelyn and POW Paul. Paul writes speaks for our favorite Scottish Religious leader: Edmund Burke:
“Your representative owes you not only his industry but his judgment. He betrays rather than serving you if he sacrifices his judgment to your opinion.â€
Paul then chimed in with a keen identification of one of the main issues:
One of the finest benefits of the admittedly imperfect system we call representative democracy is that, at its best, it allows us to select people who are smarter than us to create innovative solutions that we might not have thought of…..Do we really want Joe Schmo to decide our positions on medical research, greenhouse gases, and war policy - if he’s not an expert in any of these fields himself?
Jocelyn agrees with Paul, and not just because he is dreamy. She too thinks the MP has an independent role to play:
“I think what Paul thinks too…Particularly when it comes to delicate matters that are contentious, such as assisted suicide or gay marriage or when life is really alive, I think it pays to have people with some expertise behind the votes.”
I have considered the viewpoints you express. We currently do not elect MPS that can boast any particular aptitude in any policy area. At best we vote for MPS for their affiliation to a party leader we think represents our views or have a good bunch of advisers.
This United Independents is essentially a work-around. The current system is build for representative democracy but the views of the people are never expressed. What you may like on social policy in one party, may be balanced against a foreign policy you hold as repugnant.
Each riding office could publish the running poll status on an issue. Those registered to vote in the riding would all have a chance to vote and I believe many would if the process was made easy and multiple voting platforms were made available (Internet, mail, phone, in person). The goal is not “perfect government policy†the goal is accurately representing the views of the constituents.
I hope I can make a post out of these comments alone. Keep em coming!
So I don’t know if I mentioned it in my previous e-mail, but I have to speak directly to the issue of the inherent flaws of poll-taking, and the idea of having “expert” special interest MPs.
Polls suffer the same flaws that much of epidemiological research suffers: Reporting bias, Recall bias, and more. Simply put, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and only on issues that are important to them. Since due to many issues of housing distribution, sampling, and simply the lack of trust some constituents may have for their representation, many people won’t report in, and so we will be back in the tyranny of the majority all over again. Representation that rests solely on polling is destined to reinforce the barriers that keep the unheard out of politics today. If there was another way around that it that would maintain the attention and participation (good luck) of as many constituents as possible, yet seek to include the voices of the bored, the poor, the phoneless, young, old, and speakers of other languages, that would be sweeeet.
I would think that having MPs who aren’t specialist in any one area would be helpful, but hard on the politicos forming the cabinet. Obviously we are going to get a little of everything in parliament, but I think the closest representation on a riding level would come from a constituent who at least had good reading, writing and communication skills, and with a basic interest in politics at minimum (preferably an understanding of how the system works), and the system would be set up to allow consultation with experts to fill in the gaps on a given issue.
I can’t tell you how irritating it is to be a scientist and to watch the politicos debate things like stem cell research or climate change with no real understanding at all of the biological realities - for people to just admit that they don’t know the basics of an issue would be far more representative than to pretend one knows these things and legislate like a bonehead.
…cheeky cheeky….
[...] Thanks Joss for that last comment. I too am stunned by the small amount of people that are willing to get informed and participate - or even form opinions- on political issues and current events. I can’t help but think however that a riding represented by a “mercenary MP” would get supercharged with participation. Not all issues are important to all people, like stem cell research; maybe a hard core environmentalist or tax reform person would not really care, but those who did care would be way more likely to make their voices heard. And for once, their voices would matter. [...]