Democracy
I have a couple of issues with New Zealand’s current democratic system. The first is that the party that ends up in power is the one that 60% of New Zealand voted against in alliance with a party that 95% of people can’t stand and the second is that you can only vote once every three years.
Actually, make that three issues: Someone who has a criminal record has the same weight of vote as someone who has been nominated for an award for services to the community.
I believe it’s largely down to the technology we are using. In the days when all the votes had to be collected and driven by horse to the nearest centre to be counted it made sense to keep elections to a minimum just to save time and money. These days we have the technology to let everyone vote on every issue when ever they want.
How much would it cost for every house and post office to have a set-top box that provides a voting channel? Less than one election? You wouldn’t need political parties then – you’d just need a couple of good debating teams (hired and fired just like any other company) to present the issues put forward by the public.
What about some kind of voter-weighting system where everyone starts off with 100 points and you gain points, to a limit, for things that may make you a better voter (education, community awards, respect) and lose points for the opposite. The amount of points you have determine how much influence you have when voting.
Is this practicable?
