Any time that there is an election, there is always
extensive media coverage.
It never ceases to amaze me how superficial the
discussions are regarding policies that are under consideration by the
competing parties. Is this because we live in a ‘sound bite era’ where the
issues are complex and the typical media format is not up to the task of adequately addressing the details and
subtleties of every topic and point of view under discussion? Or is the average citizen too busy or too politically
apathetic to dig deeper into the topics at hand. In any case, it seems to me that
most citizens obtain their information from the mainstream media and,
consequently, believe that superficial information that they receive is sufficient
to make an "informed vote" at the polls.
Furthermore, when the electorate is poorly informed
election races often default to a battle between personalities rather than
platforms. Unfortunately, in these races, form succeeds over content and any projection
as to how the winning party will perform once in office becomes a crapshoot.
One possible reason that the “personality contest” type of election has become
increasing common is that very few members of the voting populace possess
an adequate understanding of economics and, consequently, fail to comprehend
the true impact of government operations on our individual choices, freedoms and
living standards. In other words, the true costs and benefits of public
policies, regulations and programs are never really evaluated by the voting
public in any comprehensive manner.
I, for one, believe that our electoral system is failing
us and it actually perpetuates the deficiencies in our democracy to which I
have alluded above. It is a commonly held view that democracy, while not being
perfect, is the best form of government available. Whether you agree with this view or not, being less than perfect means that
there is clearly room for improvement.
To initiate discussion and debate on how and what to
improve, I am proposing the following changes to our electoral events and
processes.
Introducing the Voter Questionnaire and its
supporting electorial process.
Overview
Imagine a scenario where elections actually generated
robust debates and discussions. Furthermore, imagine these to be framed around
specific topics to which we will refer to as Public Policy Categories. Assume
for this scenario that these Public Policy Categories, or PPCs, are limited strictly to the direct domains of responsibility
for the level of government that is undertaking election: federal, provincial,
municipal.
For a provincial election, these PPCs could include:
energy, healthcare, education, welfare & family services, regulations, policing,
other government services, jobs & labor issues , financial accountability,
leadership.
Now suppose that, during the weeks and months
running up to the election date, the political parties would stake a position
on each PPC and make their positions widely known to the public. In support of
disseminating and interpreting this information, media outlets of all types and
stripes would run specific shows and campaigns designed to encourage public
debate and discussion among voters as well as to present differing
viewpoints to the public regarding the issues and policy positions taken by
each party in the race.
When election day arrives, imagine that voter would no
longer vote for a party on a ballot, but would vote for their preferences in
each of the PPC categories identified above [there are 10 of them] as presented
to them within a document known as the Voter Questionnaire (VQ) .
A closer look … continue
to imagine the scenario.
In each PPC, all participating parties would stake a
position and make it public during the election campaign leading up to election
day. However, while this stated position appears on the official Voter
Questionnaire (VQ) [ it will replace
the ballot for recording individual voter
preferences ], the name of the party supporting the position [ PPC option] is
never identified. The purpose of this is
to attempt to isolate the voter’s choice from any particular party allegiance; in
this manner, it is hoped that the choice that the voter makes within each PPC will
be less influenced by partisan party politics and will more truly reflect his
of her beliefs and preferences [unless, of course, the voter has done the
homework to be well informed of party positions] .
Let’s look at an example of how this might work within the
Voter Questionnaire. Under the financial
accountability PPC, the following options may appear:
a] I prefer an increase in corporate taxes in order to
balance the budget annually. [ this may represent the NDP’s chosen
position, for example, but it would not be stated on the voter questionnaire
which party has taken this position]
b] I prefer a decrease in government spending in order to
balance the budget annually [ this might represent the Ontario Libertarian
Party’s anonymous yet official stake on this issue]
c] I prefer that the government increased its debts in
order to pay for new government programs [ the Liberal Party may own this
stake]
d] I believe that we should legalize, commercialize and
tax marijuana as the primary method of increasing government revenues to
balance the budget [ The Freedom Party’s stake]
d] I don't care how the government meets its financial
obligations long as my needs are met with government assistance [The Communist
Party of Ontario]
e] I prefer the introduction of a carbon tax to balance
the budget and protect our environment [Green Party]
f] I do not have an opinion on this topic.
It must be noted that ALL OPTIONS [ a -----> h] that are presented on within each PPC on the
Voter Questionnaire [VQ] MUST have the official endorsement of a party
that is competing in the election. In fact, it would be best that the stake
that they take on each issue be worded [within guidelines ] by the party
leadership itself and will have had the active participation of the party
membership in crafting the party’s official stance on each PPC. A coordinating
body, preferable a private sector law firm, would coordinate the preparation of
the Voter
Questionnaire with each participating party and complete this task several
months ahead of Election Day.
Once the final and official Voter Questionnaire is
completed, it would be available for
publication by any interested persons or organizations – ie the political
parties themselves, members of the media, etc. The VQ MUST be available
at least 60 days prior to the election date in order to to provide enough time
for the public to become familiar with its contents and be exposed to any media
events that may further their interest in, and knowledge of, the political
landscape.
On Election Day. each voter will mark the
official copy of the VQ in the ballot box which will be used to tally their
preferences for all 10 PPCs in the VQ.
Evaluating election results
Each of the 10 PPCs in the VQ will carry a 1/10 weighting towards 1 compete vote. When the
individual VQ is tallied, each voter’s PPC response a record a 1/10th of a vote score in favor of the party
that supported the PPC option selected by the voter. For example, if the NDP
had publicly supported option d] and if the voter had selected option d], then
the NDP candidate in that riding would receive a1/10th vote added to his/her
tally.
Note that every PPC will present an option that says “I do
not have an opinion on this topic. On this option, no score is awarded to
any party; this is also true if this voter omits a response to any PPC. In
effect, a complete vote can distribute 1/10th incremental scores to
a variety of parties AND any voter’s accumulated score can represent any multiple
of 0.10 point from 0 to 1, depending on the number of “spoiled” PPC votes
chosen by the voter.
The election will be one by the Party that accumulated
with the highest overall PPC scores for the official VQ returns tallied.
Another example and its advantage …
Let’s select another PPC as an example: Under the
topic "leadership", the following party options would be provided for
selection: “ I believe that the party, and its leader, that is best prepared to
lead and direct the resources of the Ontario government is: “
a] The NDP
b] The Liberal
c] The Conservative
d] The Green Party
e] The Ontario Libertarian Party
f] The Communist Party
g] The Freedom party
h] I do not have an opinion on this topic.
One major advantage of the VQ is that, if a voter has the
tendency to vote for candidates based on personal qualities [charisma, for
example] rather than sound and reasonable policies, then the PPC selection
would only count for 1/10th of a full vote. The remaining 9/10s of the vote will be determined by policy positions in
the remaining 9 PPCs Hopefully, in order
to make full use of the voting privilege, each voter may be encouraged by the
VQ format to invest a little more time and effort learning about the policy
options, and their implications on the lives of fellow citizens, that are
available.
Yet another example….
Under the PPC "other government services",
the following options might be:
a] I prefer that the government shrink in size by
privatizing all operations that are nonessential services. For example, the
LCBO and The Beer Store are retail chains that would be better run as private
enterprises rather than government monopolies. [Ontario Libertarian Party]
b] I prefer the status quo – no changes to the current
size and structure of the Ontario Government [ governing Ontario Liberal Party]
c] I do not object to considering that the government
provide additional tax-supported services such as province-wide day care
programs [ NDP]
d] I prefer the government take control and run the whole
businesses in the province. [ Communist Party]
e] I prefer that government end all “corporate welfare
payments” and use the saving to create a new Environmental Governance agency to
oversee Ontario and direct the responsible use of its natural resources .
[Green Party]
f] I prefer that a new agency, responsible for
collecting tax revenues from the sale of commercialized marijuana, be created
to generate new funds for the provincial Health Care programs. [Freedom Party]
g] I prefer a review of all existing Agencies, Boards and
Commissions to identify and eliminate those that no longer serve the public
interest suffiently to remain in force. [Conservative Party ]
h] I do not have an opinion on this topic.
Note that the statement alternatives presented are
stated in a way that reflects party vision & policy rather than address any
specific issue. Any voter that is concerned about specific issues is likely to
vote for party whose the stated options best align with the ideological stance of
the voter. It will be up to the voter to decided which “vision and approach to governing” satisfies him or her best, and to trust that the selected Party will address any specific issue of concern in a manner acceptable to the
voter.
One more PPC example --- regulations.
PPC Statement : “I
believe that any party that takes power after this election should approach the
domain of government regulations using the following approach:”
a] Create new legislation that will protect the public
interests while focusing on job creation. [NDP]
b] Create new legislation that will protect the public
interests while focusing on the protection of our natural resources and any
threats from climate change . [Green]
c] Create new legislation that will protect all
workers from exploitation by rich and powerful corporations [Communist]
d] Create new legislation that will legalize
marijuana to allow new recreational freedoms for our citizens and reduce
control of the moralists of our society [Freedom Party]
e] Create new legislation will protect the interests of,
and reduce the regulatory burdens to our retirees, new immigrants, public
servants, the poor and the middle class [Liberal Party]
f] Review and rationalize current regulations with
the view of culling regulations that have outlived their usefulness
and/or provide unfair advantages to special interest groups at the
unnecessary expense of taxpayers [Libertarian Party]
[h] I do not have an opinion on this topic.
On a personal note, this author believes that this
category is a key and essential one
because it accounts for almost all of the inflexibility that governments claim when the public requests serious cost-cutting.
The reason is that , as long as a regulation exists, the government claims the responsibility to
enforce it. Over 500,000 provincial regulations exist in Ontario and this is
growing. The only way to enable cost-cutting is to reduce the “responsibility
load” of government so that regulations can be selectively eliminated and ineffective programs scrapped or usefully transformed.
The Benefits continue to add up …
The above examples portray the possibilities that
such a Voter Questionnaire approach to elections could have in creating a more
meaningful and engaging democracy. It will shift the focus off “personalities” and
onto specific platforms that clarify & solidify the positions that each
party is prepared to stake on a wide array of government domains.
Another advantage of this plan will accrue to
each party. To the extent that the party members are prepared to contribute the necessary effort in thinking about, discussing, debating and discovering acceptable common ground and compromise
within the party’s evolving vision and platform, the party itself will be
enriched and become more mature, cohesive
and professional in its presentation to the public. If every participating party member contributes
to produce the final creation os the party’s 10 PPCs for the VQ, then these
will truly reflect the party membership.
This, in turn, will also provide every voter on Election Day with a broad array
of unique and robust position statements from which to chose Hopefully the range
of PPC options will represent the full gamut of realistic
possibilities within each PPC for voters
to weigh and evaluate.
In some instances, however, 2 PPC options presented buy
different parties may be the same or very similar. This is where the the VQ coordinating body will add value to the
creation of the Official VQ and work with the parties in questions to ensure
that each PPC option is carefully worded
so that differences in each party’s PPC stance are clear. Therefore, it will require additional
soul-searching, discussion and debate within the party membership to refine and
craft a PPC party position that is sufficiently nuanced to best reflect
the party’s stand on the topic without ambiguity. REMEMBER, each party is
competing for the vote on every PPC and,
for this reason, the more compelling and clear they are on every PPC , the
better it is for the voter to consider and decide with minimum confusion or
doubt. [ all those 1/10ths of a vote will add up quickly!]
Furthermore, If each political party promotes and campaigns
actively on each of their 10 stated positions that appear in the VQ, they will
have no excuses after the election that the Official VQ did not fairly present their parties’ policy
options.
Finally, the data collected for a VQ styled election will
produce valuable information for the governing party regarding the “pulse” of
the communities it serves. In addition, the content of the VQ also provides an excellent framework by which the government in power
can be evaluated during its term – to track
where it succeeds in delivering on its platform , and where it fails –
to be held accountable by the public in ways never previously possible.
Summary
This Voter Questionnaire approach may seem like a
complicated [and possibly expensive] way to run an election, but if we are to
continue to claim that we live in a democracy, then we owe it to ourselves to
inject more honesty, clarity, consideration, and investigation into the choices
we make in the political arena.
To prepare for every election using this approach
will require much effort to “get if right”, but it is an effort that will be
repaid in democratic dividends that all active participants stand to reap. The
phase “participatory democracy’ will hold more meaning than is has to date.
Our world is infinitely more complex than it was when our
electoral system was originally designed and it desperately needs to be
updated. Fortunately, we live in an age where the technology is available to
capture and process voter data in ways never before possible. All that is
needed now is the political will and broad public support to build a more
robust democracy shaped by a substantially more knowledgeable and engaged electorate.
This paper was written to generate discussion and to
suggest some ideas that may address some of the deficiencies of our current electoral
system. Hopefully it has been successful
in its aim.
Let the discussions and debate begin!
