Good Morning, Vidar Wahlberg
I, for one, am very glad to see your post. What you wrote is, indeed,
"a bit outside what is usually discussed here", but that's what makes
your comment so welcome.
Like you, I follow this list but rarely post here because, although the
list is entitled, "Election Methods", the only methods ever discussed
are party-based systems. The "sociological issues" are ignored.
To me, the challenge of representative democracy is not to divide the
public into competitive blocs of power-seekers, but to find the best
advocates of the common interest and raise them to leadership positions
as the people's representatives. To meet that challenge, given the
range of public issues and the way each individual's interest in
political matters varies over time, an effective electoral process must
examine the entire electorate during each election cycle, seeking the
people's best advocates. It must let every voter influence the outcome
of each election to the best of their desire and ability, and it must
ensure that those selected as representatives are disposed to serve the
public interest.
The question you pose, "... how would you design a form of government
that is elected by the people, but is (responsive) to sociological
issues ..." is vital and worthy of open-minded consideration. I, for
one, would like to examine it in detail, whether here or in private
correspondence. My email address is in the heading to this post.
Incidentally, I have a paper written by a countryman of yours, Sverre
Bugge Midthjell of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology,
that bears on these issues. It is entitled, "Deliberating or
Quarreling? - An Enquiry into Theory and Research Methods for the
Relationship between Political Parties and Deliberation". It is written
in English and is in .PDF format. I'll be happy to forward it to you,
if you wish.
Best wishes,
Fred Gohlke
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