[ExI] Internet based political party in Australia

[Emlyn]

I'm not a political scientist, but...

IMO, that's a bad idea. It's going to lead to major party voting
blocks, like we have now. I really think, if you care about an issue,
then vote on it. If you don't really know, can't figure it out, can't
be bothered, then don't.

With a proxy scheme like below, I imagine the major parties would go
round up enough true believers to have large voting power, then duke
it out amongst themselves, making a mockery of the whole idea, leaving
people who really care about issues but who haven't gathered proxies
out in the cold.

If you want representative democracy, you already have it. The point
of this idea is to try out something else (participatory online
democracy).

Emlyn

On 18/10/2007, David C. Harris <dharris234 at mindspring.com> wrote:
> Excellent idea.  If they get good response to the initial concept, may I
> suggest this addition which is like the idea of delegation advocated
> independently about 30 years ago by Professor John McCarthy and myself
> at Stanford:
>
> Trying to make the many decisions of a modern nation will overload and
> wear out most of the direct voters of SOL.  Consider adding the ability
> to say "make my votes like the recommendations of NNN", where NNN is any
> member willing to be considered an opinion leader or wise
> representative.  Or accomplish the same thing with explicit electronic
> "proxies" that can be cast by the person who holds them.  Overloaded
> voters can give their proxies to anyone they trust, reducing the
> information processing load on them.
>
>  - David Harris, Palo Alto
>
>
> Emlyn wrote:
> > I am very seriously considering voting for these people in our
> > upcoming elections:
> >
> > http://www.senatoronline.org.au/
> >
> > >From the site:
> > -----------
> > Senator On-Line is Australia's only Internet based democratic political party.
> >
> > Senator On-Line is not aligned to any other political party… it is
> > neither Liberal nor Labor.
> >
> > Senator On-Line ('SOL') is a truly democratic party which will allow
> > everyone on the Australian Electoral roll who has access to the
> > internet to vote on every Bill put to Parliament and have its Senators
> > vote in accordance with a clear majority view.
> >
> > We will be running candidates for the upcoming federal Upper House
> > (Senate) elections.
> >
> > When a SOL senator is elected a web site will be developed which will provide:
> >
> > - Accurate information and balanced argument on each Bill and important issues
> > - The vast majority of those registered on the Australian Electoral
> > roll the chance to have their say by voting on bills and issues facing
> > our country
> > - A tally of all votes which will then count in Parliament
> > - Each person on the Australian Electoral roll will be entitled to one
> > vote and only be allowed to vote once on each bill or issue.
> >
> > SOL senators will have committed in writing to voting in line with the
> > clear majority view of the SOL on-line voters.
> >
> > Senator On-Line will enable broader community involvement in the
> > political process and the shaping of our country.
> > -----------
> >
> > Related news:
> >
> > Online Party Hopes to Click with Voters
> > http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/online-party-hopes-to-click-with-voters/2007/10/18/1192300920221.html?page=2
> >
> >
>
> --
>  David Harris, Palo Alto, California.
>               GPS location: 37.41988, -122.13388 (1984 WGS system).
>  Active account: dharris234 at mindspring.com
>  Phone: 1-650-856-9126 (has answering machine or me)
>  Lifetime e-mail forwarding account: David.C.Harris at stanfordalumni.org
>  Postal ("snail mail") address: David Harris
>                                Medintrans
>                                455 Margarita Ave.
>                                Palo Alto, CA  94306-2827
>
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>


-- 
Emlyn

http://emlynoregan.com