Yes, but if the recall requires the same percentages to actually succeed as it currently does that shouldn’t be a problem. From that part anyway. The fact that monetarily poorer elected officials will have greater difficulty defending recall elections than lobby-friendly officials will still be an unfortunate factor.
nov 2038: elected by majority
dec 2038: I want a recall!
jan 2039: elected by majority
feb 2039: I wanna recall!
mar 2039: elected by majority
apr 2039: I wanna recall!
may 2039: to hell with the recalls-- I’m resigning. It’s been a good eight years.
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I suspect that will only affect the poorer officials. If you’re wealthy and supported by lobbyists, you’re not going to give a damn. Same as the U.S.'s current system. Consider this a passive aggressive attempt to enact real campaign finance reform if you will. Won’t bother me in the slightest.
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You raise a very valid objection to the recall scheme as a mechanism for term limits. It boils down to a LOT of elections.
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Yeah, you’d have a different set of problems to work through for sure. I think that’s going to be true for any large scale institutions. The answer to that is only eternal vigilance and widespread transparency.
I think that’s a fair point, but frankly, it’s too much like that anyway now though. People can be made rich by entering congress, is the only difference - you have non-elites who can get into congress, but most of them are quickly co-opted. But maybe that’s not the answer then, given that history.
I guess the question is at what point does the house get unwieldy?
i think the secret is that it was designed to be unweildy.
boehners seat is not supposed to be so powerful.
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It depends, but beyond 100 to 200 people, the members can’t really know each other.
Whether that’s a disadvantage or an advantage is up for debate.
It would also help to have small districts, so candidates can canvass the whole district, and so the start-up costs would fall, and so businesses can’t get too high a return-on-investment on the single campaign. It would also help to have multiple members from each district, so people would have a better chance of having at least one rep or delegate who doesn’t consider them an abomination.
So figure about 3 delegates per district, about 60,000 people per district, and no more than about 150 delegates total. You might be able to get a representative system, with either elected bound recallable delegates, elected representatives, or sortition, to work with up to on the order of 3 million people, but not 300 million with the current approach. You might be able to get a specific committee for a specific issue, with whichever system, to work with 300 million people. But you can bet the oil and gas industry would be trying to buy reps on the Interregional Committee for the Reduction of Carbon Pollution.
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why not? the current members don’t know each other as it is, at least the way they talk about each other leaves me with that conclusion.
i think john adams was onto something.
But you can bet the oil and gas industry would be trying to buy reps on the Interregional Committee for the Reduction of Carbon Pollution.
sure, but buying 200 reps has got to be more expensive and MUCH harder to hide than buying 2. right?
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Just have 300 million reps.
Let everyone vote directly on everything.
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Absurd. We’d have a Smithsonian Ghost Museum and a rich white man lane on the highway if that happened.
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Actually, not necessarily… we do have less rich white men than the rest of us - but I guess that depends on how you define rich and if people vote for the interests which they might, one day, have, if they work hard enough like other rich people who clearly got all their wealth through honest hard work, not privilege right? [edited to add] I think half this comment came out sarcastic, which I’m not sure I meant… >_<
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I dunno. The Swiss model always sounds very tempting to me.
Hell, even the US model is light years ahead of the British one.
I thought that’s what they say about Americans - that they always vote in the best interest of the people they want to be one day.
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I think it’s true of some Americans… but it’s more complicated than that, I think (which is so vague and could be said about anything ever). The politics of fear and race play a part in what is seemingly non-rational voting patterns as well. There is so much nonsense on the media that its kind of hard to cut through to the truth, too, and I’d wager that tons of people don’t have the time/energy to do so, meaning they depend on the media to do that for them, and of course, given that much American media is backed by corporate interests, of course they won’t do that properly…
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6. MPS SHOULD NOT BE PAID WAGES BUT LOANS, LIKE STUDENTS, BECAUSE THEY GET HIGHLY PAID JOBS AFTER THEY GRADUATE FROM WESTMINSTER AS A RESULT OF ATTENDING PARLIAMENT. THEY SHOULD THEREFORE PAY BACK THE LOAN THEY RECEIVED WHILE IN OFFICE
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Hm… I kind of like this idea.
Inspired by this thread, I just reread The Peoples Manifesto and found all the promises that directly relate to politicians and political parties
1 Party Manifestos Should Be Legally Binding
6 MPs Should Not Be Paid Wages But Loans, Like Students, Because They Get Highly Paid Jobs After They Graduate From Westminster As A Result Of Attending Parliament. They Should Therefore Pay Back The Loan They Received While In Office (as mentioned above)
12 MPs Should Have No Job Other Than That Of MP
13 If MPs Want A Second Job In Order To Gain A Greater Understanding Of Life Outside Government, Then Their Constituents Should Choose Which Job They Think Would Best Expand Their MP’s Horizons
21 To Introduce A Prohibition Of Deception Act
22 Politicians Should Have To Wear Tabards Displaying The Names And Logos Of The Companies With Whom They Have A Financial Relationship, Like A Racing Driver
24 The Prime Minister Shall Be Limited To Two Terms Of Office
28 Whenever There Is A Barney In The House Of Commons, They Should Play The Benny Hill Theme Tune
31 All Members Of The BNP Should Be Forced To Trace Their Family Ancestry And Make It Public
32 All MPs’ Second Homes Are To Become State Property At The End Of Their ‘Career’ (Second Home = The One Closest To Westminster)
40 Goats Are To Be Released On To The Floor Of The House Of Commons (No More Than Four); MPs Are Forbidden From Referring To Them Ever
I’m sure some of these can be adapted for use in the USA (Number 40, please!)
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If anything we would be better off with the opposite of #6.
Pay politicians well while they are in office, and confiscate any consulting fees, sinecures, etc. for twice as long after they are out of office.
