Good Afternoon, Juho
re: "... being able to influence through the chain of electors
offers a useful communication / influence channel between
the bottom level voters and their representatives."
It also gives the people meaningful participation in the political
process, way beyond voting for candidates controlled by political parties.
re: "We should have some practical experiments with different
rules and in different societies to see how people feel
about this kind of indirect representation."
My guess is that the best way to test the process will come when a small
community adopts it. One of my sons suggested the Little League - a
league for children's baseball in communities throughout the U. S. -
would be an excellent proving ground.
Little League organizations are a hotbed of political intrigue. Parents
fight hard for their children, trying to influence the choice of team
managers, which children will play and for how long in each game, which
children will get to play in the All-Star games, and so forth. In
addition, there's no shortage of potential for chicanery in the disposal
of funds. Frankly, I think it would be a great test; the relationships
are up-close, personal and intense.
re: "One quite technical approach would be to arrange a separate
proportional election ... on which questions to present."
This makes an excellent point: In my June 23rd post, I pointed out,
"Voting for choices defined by political parties creates an illusion of
power but is a sign of great weakness." The hallmark of democracy is
the ability to decide what issues are important to our community -
whether as you describe here or in some other manner.
re: "One possible simpler model would be to allow different
interest groups each set one or two questions."
What would you think of letting interest groups (or parties) select
their most effective advocates to compete with other candidates for
public office? The party candidates can proclaim their ideas and
encourage discussion of their concepts. Some of their ideas will be
accepted, in whole or in part, as they are shown to be in the common
interest of the community.
Fred
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