From: Technotranscendence (neptune@mars.superlink.net)
Date: Mon Aug 05 2002 - 20:21:07 MDT
On Monday, August 05, 2002 9:18 PM CurtAdams@aol.com wrote:
> Hong Kong has a system with limited franchise - educated, wealthy, and
> professional voters
> have far more influence than most people. Sorry, I forget the
details. If
> Beijing didn't piddle
> so outrageously in HK politics it would be an interesting test of
limited
> franchise.
In its widest sense of the term, limited franchise has existed for quite
some time in many societies. For example, at one time, only propertied
males were allowed to vote in Britain and the US.
> Another idea based on HK is that HK got really good governance when it
was
> ruled by appointees responsible not to HK'ers but to a relatively
ethical
> democracy on the other
> side of the planet. Why not make the system bidirectional? Nation A
elects
> a commission to choose governors for nation B and vice versa. The
> commissions then serve as oversight
> boards, so they have incentive to catch bad behavior. Not perfect,
but it
> makes it a lot
> harder for the government to pander to its electors. Indirect
election
> reduces the "good
> hair" effect. Powermad people would still be drawn to government, of
course,
> but
> an elected commission should at least be harder to snooker.
Look at the track record of indirect representation at, say, the UN or
other international agencies, such as the European Parliament. I think
it reinforces the centralization of power and the autonomy of elites.
Yeah, the elected or appointed officials might not always be careerists,
but their staffs are as are the lobbyists and the like.
Why not instead advocate decentralization of political power --
eventually down to the individual level? By removing the power one
person or group can have over others -- by making each political unit
smaller -- the amount of damage any one government can do becomes much
more limited. The feedback loop for bad policies is also tighter. A
nation like the US can have insane policies for decades. One the size
your neighborhood would probably not be able to do likewise. (E.g.,
imagine you and your neighbors decide to slap a high tariff on imported
cars and a quota on imported food. How long would that sort of policy
last?)
Cheers!
Dan
Read more my drivel at:
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/
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