Better Elections

I read this blog by Stephen Dubner, and I came up with a sensational idea. One of the Questions advanced related to the role of Personality in elections. Another Question asks the value of forcing Candidates to answer the real issues. Another asked for Clinton’s position basically on the principle of ethnic cleansing. There was the One asking about the balance of power between Congress and the Presidency after Bush. I read through these Questions to be asked of an ex-President, and came to realize the real underlying cause for the poor performance of Democracy in action, at least of American democracy in the Present Day. Then came the Idea!

The genuine reason for the failure of Democracy was that Voting was not sufficiently discrete. What do I mean by that? Reply states We are voting for Individuals, not Policies, Direction, Goals, or Desires. Once those Individuals are elected, they do not even have to follow the course which they outlined in their campaign. Relatively no Problems or Crises evolving are different in nature or context, only differing in placement, location, and impact. Election of efficient leadership (leadership which follows pre-approved methods) requires an evaluation system more intricate than ‘Does he sweat under Pressure?’ How do We arrive at this evaluation process?

I would suggest conversion of the Federal Election Committee into a Test-Creation entity, where Anyone is encouraged to send in sensible Questions to ask the Candidates, and the Committee develops a 50-Question Multiple-Choice Test which is administered to all Candidates prior to the Election. Voters will take the same Test on Election Day, and all Candidates will be elected by the greatest conformity with the Voters’ choices. It will be how We elect President, Representative, and Senator. Candidates will be tested early, so that They may campaign based upon their choices on the Test, though They will be disallowed from revelation of any of the questions of the Test. State and Local Candidates can be forced into a similar, but separate form of Election, if States and Communities deem such a Process valuable. lgl