The Immense Possibilities of 'Association of Independents'

[Vijayaraghavan Padmanabhan]

The years of brain storming on the WDDM site has thrown up several ideas, each of them being the distilled experience of people who have contemplated about the possibility of a better political system. The following 'back ground information' for a question posted in the Voting System link on the home page of WDDM summarizes these ideas into one workable plan. The problem is that it is difficult to appreciate the significance of this workable plan, a synthesis of several ideas, considered as a whole. I will try to bring out the many facets of this plan for setting up the 'Association of Independents' in this forum. Members are welcome to give their ideas and comments, which may lead on to an even better plan.

Those seeking True Democracy in the present day world would like to be governed by legislators who are 'Independent' and free from any party line of thinking. It is proposed that an 'Association of Independents Web Platform' be set up by the WDDM to facilitate this ideal by performing the following three functions, while acting as a nidus for action on the ground, throughout the world:
(1) To face political parties by putting up candidates on behalf of the ‘Association’ during elections at the local/state/national levels. This can be done by choosing from (among the willing) registered members of the 'Association' belonging to the respective electoral constituencies, through a fair process. [eg. Triplet system, which is briefly as follows: Suppose 10 candidates are willing to be considered for selection for contesting in an election. They are divided into 3 triplets. Each member of a triplet assesses the qualifications of the other two members and ignoring himself, selects one among them whom he considers is most suitable for the job. The member who gets 2 votes is the winner. From 3 triplets three winners are thus selected, from whom the final selection is made by a similar process]
(2) To familiarize the people about the procedures of Initiative and Referendum by practicing the same on the platform through two types of polls open to members of the Association: [a] the poll conducted on an Initiative (a new policy/program suggested by a member for his/her constituency and [b] the poll conducted on a Referendum (the question raised by a member regarding a policy/program already brought into force by the govt. of the day). The results of these polls pertaining to a constituency, arranged in descending order of approval ratings, would be the priorities of the 'Association', based on which the candidate posted by the 'Association' would seek votes in that constituency in any ensuing election. When the independent candidates put up by the ‘Association’ successfully enter the legislative bodies, the I&R results of the platform can actually influence the government of the day.
(3) To educate the younger generations (through the above two functions) about the possibility of a New Political System that stands for the best of values: freedom of expression, equality of all and the people becoming their own masters, not subjected to any ideology or line of thinking.

[Vijayaraghavan Padmanabhan]

Fred has given a clear description of the pros and cons of Sociocracy and Simpol. Each one of these has its merits and can be put to good use. But none of them addresses the basic problem of Democracy, which is to elect representatives with character as well as competence so that they are truly representative of people’s wishes.

The Triplet system would bring about a fundamental change in the dynamics of the electoral system. Superficial attractions would be less influential while the candidate’s sense of values would be a deciding factor. An electoral system built around the Triplet system may appear less attractive in the short run but eventually it is likely to make a deep impression among the voters.

Sociocracy, which requires ‘consent’ from every one of the members of a circle and has to accommodate ‘objection’ from any one of its members, may be useful in the process of governance when a team of people need to work together to achieve a set goal.

The objective of Simpol or Simultaneous Policy, which requires Nations to simultaneously implement policies having international competitive implication, is naturally facilitated by the ‘Association of Independents’. This is because ‘independent’ people’s representatives are more likely to pass legislation requiring multilateral action aimed at global welfare and would not be bound by ‘party line of thinking’.

Supporters of Simpol say that issues like climate change require urgent multilateral action (for reducing carbon emissions). This is true. But the voter would be primarily interested in good governance within his area, which may be coupled with national and global issues during an election campaign. To expect global issues to be the deciding factor for the voter is unrealistic.