| Chapter 4. | The TRUE DEMOCRACY Member of the E-Parliament. [TD MP] |
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Unlike today's MPs who are guided and supported by their party, the TD MPs, as entrepreneurs have neither guidance nor support. They are squarely put between a rock [the people] and a hard place [the e-parliament]. On the one hand the TD MPs can't make any promises because they can't deliver anything, on the other hand, they can't represent their constituents as they wish because all their fellow TD MPs are trying to do the same. This defines the qualities of the TD MPs. They must be able to work with people and exercise leadership, they also must be skilled and tolerant debaters in the deliberations of the TD parliament in order to achieve results. The TD system requires to elect several TD MPs in an election district. For two reasons A - to give the diversities in race, culture, religion, etc. a wider choice of the representation in the e-parliament. B - to establish competition between the TD MPs in the riding. The pay for the TD MPs. The income of a TD MP depends on how many votes he or she gets in each election. Each vote has a given dollar value. Then it has to be determined how much money a single TD MP needs to run his/her office, i.e. the amount of his/her salary, that of the assistants and office expenses. Moreover, in order to get elected a TD MP has to get at least 10% of the total vote count of the election district. At each election the state's treasury supplies 100% of the monies needed in a riding. Assuming that four TD MPs are elected into the TD e-parliament and two more candidates are also seeking election, the vote count in percentages will be as follows. The best case scenario when four TD MPs get elected or re-elected and two are missing out is:
Or when four TD MPs get elected and two are missing out but are shy of the required 10% to get elected.
The worst case scenario, theoretically possible, when all six candidates have the same vote count of 16.66%. Seniority will decide who becomes elected. In this case the representation is still 66.66%. Another theoretically possible case is that only one gets elected and the other three candidates missed out, each one with 9%of the vote i.e. the representation is still 82% and the winner pockets all the money. [This proves that this TD MP does an excellent job. He or she can become rich quickly and nobody can argue about this because the money was earned fairly and squarely.] Today's members of parliament are a privileged group. Once elected they have for the next 4 or 5 years no money worries and they have generous pension benefits. There are not many people who have in our capitalistic society this kind of luxury, except retirees or the idle rich. The opinion is that the work of the MPs is too important, they shouldn't be distracted by any money worries. This is nonsense because successful people in any profession show that it can be done. Elections The time interval of four or five years between election is much too long. This is still a holdover from the time with travel and communication restrictions. Besides, these long periods between elections allow mediocre governments to do too to much irreparable damage and too many political scandals can develop. As shown above, in the TD system the TD MPs have to hustle like the rest of the working population and they are rewarded according to their performance. In addition, they have competitors who are vying for the same vote. Moreover, since the voting can be done by telephone and the voting procedure is not time consuming, elections can be held within months if not years. This short time span will keep the TD MPs motivated. This direct and personal accountability of TD MPs to their constituents will make lobbying of special interests very difficult for two reasons - even if elected with only 10% the TD MP makes a good living. Besides, punishment [not getting elected] will be swift. Unlike today where ethical guide lines are needed to prevent politicians from doing wrong, the TD MPs don't need any guide lines. Subjecting Members of Parliament to the demeaning hire and fire customs or dog eat dog business conditions of capitalism will be controversial. But this ‘survival of the fittest' method has made the western democracies the 'haves' on this earth and one cannot argue about success. [However, more critical views of capitalism in Chapters 13 and 14] Just the same, the role of a TD MP is a very important one and only the best should be entrusted to deal with the fate of the nation.. If a person manages to win time and time again the trust of the electorate. he or she will not only be a ‘ pillar of the community' but also a very constructive Member of Parliament. Public relations Human beings have spiritual, physical and practical needs. Clerics cover the spiritual needs, medical doctors the physical ones and tradesmen, merchants, etc. satisfy the practical ones. However, not much exists to cover the political needs although politics affect everyone. The role of the media, while informative, is only a passive one. In other words, today there exists a democratic vacuum. The TD MPs, living among the people and thus being a fixed part of the community will fill this vacuum. The constant interaction between the electorate and their TD MPs in town hall meetings and personal contacts will create a different democratic dynamic. People can now participate, they can talk, are listened to and are consulted. Vice versa, the TD MP will listen, explain and provide information about anything about the government and TD e-parliament. Certainly ignorance, being a human trait, will still hamper the TD system but not to such a degree as it exists today. Three points why not: A - the citizens who know and take their responsibility toward society seriously. B - the citizens who are directly affected by a given political issue, i.e. health care will bring out the doctors, nurses, hospital administrators and patients, etc., gun control the hunters and their opponents, etc. C - Politics had and has always some entertainment properties which become enhanced when people have the chance to participate in the political process. Although one cannot expect that politics will have the popularity like football or hockey, it will be another contribution to a living, vibrant democracy. In their town hall meetings, phone-ins and visiting people in their homes, the TD MPs will be instrumental in reducing the political ignorance to a certain extent but they will not erase it completely. This leaves those who make trouble out of principle, conviction or seduced by a cause - A democratic nation has many election districts or ridings. This means the TD e-parliament is a totally decentralized institution. Any organized protests will be fractionalized because all political action is confined within the boundaries of the election districts and concentrated protests against the government are pointless because this one is accountable to the TD e-parliament. Left to the protesters is their demonstration before the parliament building of the election district. but the impact will only be a local one. Of course they can attend town-hall meetings like anybody else. As long as they air their grievances in an orderly manner, the TD MP will answer in kind. If they disturb the meetings they will only alienate the attending citizenry and damage their cause. Altogether, the qualifications of a TD MP are twofold - in the public he or she must be skilled in dealing with people, learn their concerns and problems, thus enabling them to represent the interests of their constituents in the deliberating and consensus seeking process in the TD e-parliament. The Assistants A TD MP will be a very busy person. One half of his or her time will be spent with public relations and the other half is parliamentary work. Moreover - it will be described later that a national e-parliament can be extended to include other and additional parliamentary tasks - the TD MPs need help. Well qualified assistants can do many tasks to relieve their TD MP. Of course, the final decision, f. i., the vote in the TD e-parliament has to be done by the TD MP. In order to qualify for this job assistants should be university-educated. They also will be the next generation of TD MPs. Of course, any citizen can apply for this job and seek election as a TD MP. But in general the nation will be better served if all parliamentary business is done by professionals. When seeking office as a TD MP, all an assistant or a citizen has to do is go out and collect signatures of citizens who are willing to elect him or her. With the necessary amount of collected signatures the applicant goes to the election officer of the particular riding who will, on acceptance, furnish the applicant with an office. These offices are not equipped for parliamentary work, but will have sufficient equipment which will give the applicant the opportunity to fight the next election on equal conditions with the sitting TD MPs. The job of a TD MP is that of an independent entrepreneur, lucrative but very risky, and it would not be right if the people working for a TD MP had to face the same risks. Therefore, all office personnel will be civil servants, under the supervision of the election officer. Newly elected TD MPs can draw from this pool to staff their offices. Assistants are civil servants as well, but they are granted leave of absence and become, for loyalty reasons, employees of the TD MPs. They can fall back on their job as civil servants when their TD MP is not reelected. |