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"I am now convinced, that no great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible, until a great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought" ~ JS Mill's autobiography, 1873.
From Alwyn Mitchell's Blog on Democracy:
From: ENQMailMaster,
Sent: March 12, 2003 2:28 PM
To: ENQMailMaster,
Subject: Elections Canada On-Line - E-mail
Language Preference: English
From name: Alwyn Mitchell
Email: alwyn@softmatch.com
Country: Canada
Tel.: 416 756 1461
Contact by: email
Message:
Attention: Jean-Pierre Kingsley
Chief Electoral Officer of Canada
Fewer and fewer of those eligible vote in political elections because they say they don't trust politicians. A tiny percentage attend All Candidate Meetings. Instead, most vote for The Party without looking at the kind of person who is standing as a candidate for election. How can they be surprised when they are disappointed by those whom they have elected in this way?
Current rates of abstension would plummet, and the quality of our political leadership would only improve if voters had an opportunity to know the CHARACTER of candidates, especially new or "unknown" candidates, by having some insight into their values and beliefs. Voters are already provided with biographic details about each candidate (carefully selected by the candidates themselves), but one is hard pressed to find good character examinations performed by credible, independent interviewers.
I am proposing that we improve communications between candidates and voters using, what I call the PLATO System (PhiLosophical Aptitude Test for Office) and here, very briefly, is how I think it might work:
Across the country interview panels would interview candidates standing for election. These panels would be composed of professors and graduate students of philosophy (after all Plato did say the best ruler would be the "Philosopher King"). The interviewers would be elected and regulated by the body of their peers. This program would be funded by general tax revenues through Elections Canada.
All candidates would be invited for interview before elections. They could decline to be interviewed. The interviews would be 30 minutes in duration and would be recorded by videocamera. The recordings would then be stored in digital form on the Elections Canada web site. The interview questions would be straightforward, easy to understand and deal solely with candidate values and beliefs systems. The interview could be structured to have a series of standard questions, with supplementary questions being asked for clarification, as appropriate. The interview might include questions like, "How important do you think it is to be honest?; "Do you think every person has a price at which they can be bribed"?; Does disagreement with the law ever justify breaking it?"; "Are people more important than animals?"; and many other questions designed to bring the persons values to light. More than one word answers would be encouraged; political posturing speeches would be disallowed. However, here again the recorded interview would tell the story. The interviewer(s) would not attempt to draw any conclusions from the interview. The voters would be left to draw their own conclusions.
Voting materials sent by Elections Canada to eligible voters would show the internet address of the candidate interviews. Those candidates who declined to be interviewed would have that stated beside their name on the web site. The electorate would then have the opportunity to learn about the character of each candidate by watching and listening to these recordings. This would equip voters considerably better to elect people in whom they would have greater trust. This system would also encourage candidates to reflect upon the consistency of their own attitudes and opinions.
There are recall mechanisms to boot out elected office holders who have displeased the electorate. No doubt they will still be required in the future. But shouldn't we be trying to ensure that voters have better communications with those standing for election in the first place? This "PLATO System" I propose is not and will never be perfect; but it is, I think, an innovative and long-overdue step in the right direction to improve participation in democracy, with the aid of modern computer technology.
Do you agree?
Very truly,
Alwyn Mitchell
Direct Tel: 416 756-1461
North York, ON M2H 1Y7
alwyn@SoftMatch.com
ANSWER:
We acknowledge receipt of the electronic message you sent on March 12, 2003, to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Mr. Jean-Pierre Kingsley. Your message has been forwarded to his office.
Yours truly,
Thérèse Morin
Enqiries Agent