These nine members of the Council will be making decisions for the almost 80,000 people that live within the city’s boundaries.
They will be doing that in their first week.
But, here’s the rub. There will be 156 weeks of
decision making before the next election. It will be the same nine people in
the first week as it will be in the final week. The same nine!
Yet, we call this representative democracy.
It is one of the biggest falsehoods we tell ourselves.
It defies reason to suggest that the word “representative” can be
applied to a system whereby 0.01% of the people in an area make decisions for
the other 99.99%, every week for 156 weeks (3 years) on end.
The pattern gets repeated in the more than 500 districts
in this country. The pattern is repeated in other so-called representative
democracy countries throughout the world.
But, here’s a further rub. At the end of that 3-year
term (or whatever length it is) many of those nine will put themselves up for
election again. And most will get re-elected. Representation from the 99.99% is
highly unlikely.
If the word democratic comes from the Greek
word meaning common people, and the word representative derives
from the Latin word for to show, exhibit, set in view, then our modern
concept of representative democracy is a cover-up of its essential
meaning – to set the common people in view. And what is a cover-up? A
sham.
Let us be honest. Let us name it for what it truly is.
Representative democracy is a sham.
So, what then?
Winston Churchill is reputed to have said that ‘democracy
is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been
tried.’ Perhaps Churchill had not studied in depth the democracy of ancient
Athens.
Ancient Athens used a system that selected their
decision-makers via sortition – essentially by lot. Thus, the chances of anyone
(whether from the 0.01% of the population or from the 99.99%) had an equal
chance of being selected. Plus, having been selected once did not give that
person a greater chance of being selected next time.
I will not cover sortition any further here. I have
written extensively about sortition in this blog. In the topics section on the
right side of this blog can be found the entry “Sortition” Clicking on
that will show numerous items.
‘But, but,’
I can hear the objections. “But, we need the best to represent us. Voting is
the best way to get the best representatives.”
We must ask: what is best? Who are the best? The
best decision-makers? If getting the best decision-makers is our objective then
surely, voting is not going to do that. Unless. Unless the best
decision-makers are the voters. Citizens must be the best decision-makers if it
is they who we trust to make the best decision (via voting) as to who are to be
the representatives. So, why not simply trust citizens right from the start and
do away with voting altogether.
Sortition is simple and a lot more representative.
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