Showing Up

Democracy

Winston Churchill famously spoke: “Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…”

What is a “democracy”?  Nothing more or less than “the people rule.”

For my part, any other form of government – monarchy or aristocracy – is a form of tyranny, no matter how well-meaning.  Which is not to say there is no good argument for them – they may have their place – but they are still tyranny.

"One person, one vote" democracy, a failure

However, democracy – our brand of democracy, our Constitutionally limited representative democratic republic – has utterly failed us.  If you don’t see this, don’t waste your time reading Ben Paine.  The self-evident reason behind its failure is democracy’s easy corruption by the influence of money.  I have written about this at great length.  The other problem is: the people in "We the People” are clearly not up to the task.

Whose fault is it?

What do I mean by this libel?  Barely half the eligible voting population shows up at presidential elections, and many fewer for mid-term elections.  Many of those who DO vote are so ignorant (of civic matters and of current affairs) and so totally NOT public spirited, that it makes a mockery of popular rule.  How many Americans say “My vote doesn’t count, so why should I bother?,” “I’m not interested in politics,” “I only care about abortion (or race, or deficits)” [one-issue voting], “my family has always voted Democratic / Republican,” etc.  I wish these folks did NOT vote!  There are so many Americans who do give a damn, that allowing their informed and interested vote to be cancelled by the vote of someone who really doesn’t give a rat’s ass defies common sense.  I think that the folks who should decide who runs this country are the folks who care about this country, and these folks do NOT.  The vote is surely a blessed RIGHT, but it is also a privilege and a responsibility; people should be worthy of the right to vote!  Folks who immigrate here must earn the right to call themselves American citizens and to vote; should birth alone be a sufficient passport to voting?  Is it too much to ask of our native-born brothers and sisters that we know at least as much as the Swedish fellow down the block who just passed his Citizenship Test?

So, what do we do?

As to folks who don’t make the effort to vote, they don’t have the right to complain about the results.  As for those who do vote and that is the end of it, they are barely entitled to more than that.

"Showing Up" democracy

MY vision of a working democracy is wonderfully visualized in this inspiring Norman Rockwell painting called Freedom of Speech.  The setting is a “town meeting," with one interested citizen speaking up and being heard by a respectful, listening audience, many of whose members will themselves stand to speak their piece.

“This is what democracy looks like!”

Everyone in town had the opportunity to show up, to listen, and to be heard.  But THESE folks – everyone at that meeting – were the only ones who showed up!  Democracy, the will of the people, should belong to those who show up!

Voting as we know it (where every man and woman with little or no interest in public affairs has the right to vote) is at odds with this new (not new at all) ideal.  Let only those who show up – to speak and to listen – make the rules, let those who show up – GOVERN.

Neighborhood Associations

But, of course, the meeting in Rockwell’s painting is much like what we would call a neighborhood association.  And its reach is only the neighborhood.  There need to be higher level meetings – town/city level, county level, state level – all the way up to national level.  All levels of government should have an identical structure, the structure laid out in our U.S. Constitution: a two-house Legislature (a People’s House and an Aristocratic Senate), an Executive and a Judiciary.  In other words, the structure of all these levels of government should look pretty much how they look today.  The essential difference will be how we choose our public servants.  No more “voting” open to everyone, no matter how much they care.   At the local neighborhood level, the People’s House will self-select, “who shows up rules.”  Whoever “shows up” represents everyone in that community who did NOT show up (whether they like it or not).  If you have an “issue,” bring it with you to your neighborhood association; speak and be heard.

The lowest level - the neighborhood association – will be open to all citizens who reside in that neighborhood.  Meetings will be “advertised” online, on social media at least.  The online postings will include the location, the time, and the meeting’s proposed agenda.  My guess is that neighborhood associations will meet in a public-school building in the early evening.  Those who attend the “first” meeting will select a presiding member (the Executive), a recording Secretary, and a Treasurer (perhaps the second meeting).  They will serve for a year unless they step down or are recalled.  These positions will be unpaid unless the duties (of Secretary & Treasurer) become so onerous that no one is willing to accept the job unpaid.  At this level (only), agreed upon resolutions will NOT have the force of law or ordinance; these resolutions will float upwards to the next level of governing.  Voting will NOT be “one person, one vote”; each member of the neighborhood association will have a vote multiplier based on the number of meetings he/she has attended in that year.  My guess is that neighborhood meetings will take place bi-weekly or monthly, up to the membership.

Legislative  bodies

All levels, except the neighborhood association, will have the authority to craft legislation (ordinances and laws), to tax its own community, and to have a police force.   Taxes may be levied against income and/or wealth of any kind.

will choose their own "presiding" Executive

These legislative bodies will choose their “executive” from among their own peers: at the City level a Mayor, at the state level a Governor, at the national level a President.  Unlike our corrupted system where the executive has become nearly all powerful, the core of governing will be the legislative body.  The executive will be for the most part a chairperson and a liaison between the legislature and the chief of police; the executive will play no role whatever in law making.

The dominance of the Legislative function

As an aside, our Founding Fathers were crystal clear that the legislature was the most important branch of government, with the most powers and the most responsibilities.  Article I of the U.S. Constitution is the Legislative branch, while Article II is the Executive.  Article I has twice the words of Article II.  Article I is comprised of ten sections while Article II contains four.  Article I contains 53 subsections to 13 for Article II.  The U.S. Constitution is an excellent model of what our governing bodies should look like, what powers should be vested in each branch.  All except for voting.  In our model, our voters and our representatives (our “rulers”) will be those who show up.

Scaling up

“Elections” to the next level should take place every one or two years, near the end of a term.  Weighted voting as explained above.  Regular attendance and solid contributions for a year’s time should get one “promoted” to the next higher level.  Once again, all the way up to the top. I suspect that “parties” will not exist, no need.  And I am certain that naked ambition will not be a plus factor in being promoted to the next level.  How many levels will there be in this pyramid of showing up?  I would guess four to six.  Which means, absolutely, that getting to the top – the Presidency – will take an engaged citizen many years of active, engaged citizenship.  No room for a Donald Trump in this world.

At the top of this pyramid – at the national level – will be a popular legislature, like our House of Representatives.   In addition to law-making (see Article I of the U.S. Constitution), this legislature will select a (temporary) president (see Article II of the U.S. Constitution) from its ranks.  Law making will be the exclusive prerogative of the House (see Senate’s role below).

The Senate

A “Senate” of “experts in their fields” should be brought together to assist House members whose specialized knowledge is extremely limited.  In addition to having an Advisory role (no longer will environmental problems remain on the back shelf), the Senate will also have absolute Veto power over legislation written by the House.   In other words, the Senate is an Aristocracy, but of knowledge not wealth or family.  We in this country have worshipped wealth too long; we have always spat in the face of St. Paul’s dictum, “the love of money is the root of all evil.”  And we continue to pay the price daily and we have failed to notice.  Private wealth has NO place in a real democracy’s version of an Aristocracy.  True experts are typically found in academia, whose practitioners spend their lives learning stuff, discovering stuff, inventing stuff.  This is an American democracy’s Aristocracy: academics, doctors, scientists, historians, researchers, economists.  And lawyers who will help the House craft proper laws.  No businesspersons as their agenda is always private profit, not public service, not the common good.

Compensation

Showing up must be a voluntary unpaid action.  But there must be compensation to pay for room and board and transportation for those whose service takes them away from their home base, temporarily or long-term.   If their contribution becomes a job, they must be salaried.  On the other hand, it should be a felony to offer or accept any other compensation or reward for showing up.  Corporations should have no part and no say in governance, period.   If you went to influence how we rule ourselves – be you prince or pauper – show up!

Requirements of Service

You must be at least 15 (!) to participate in Town Hall meetings, 21 in City Council meetings, 25 in County meetings, 30 in State government, and 35 in federal government.  Presiding officers must be three years older than these minimum age requirements.  You must have scored at least 75% over 20 questions in an online Citizenship Test in order to participate in any level of government.  This should not be a burden as answers to all 100 questions are readily available online.  All meetings of government are open to non-participating observers, especially to members of the press.

No Term Limits.  Recall is always available.

Benefits

This model of governance will have no campaigns, no rallies, no campaign finance reform, no TV spots, no internet advertising (web sites, of course, that put your ideas on display, not your ambition).  If you want to rise, show up and prove your worth to your fellows.

Taxes

Taxes will be levied against Income and Wealth; among its goals will be reducing current levels of Wealth Inequality.  At the national level, tax rates will be set to levels that produce surpluses in good years – surpluses that will be large enough to roll back the level of National Debt that we suffer from now – and deficits in lean years, to help us get through hard times (until, at least, Modern Monetary Theory is accepted by most economists).

This idea is not original with me.  I heard of it here.  My explanation is way shorter than his.

P.S. 

This outline of what a Showing Up government would look like uncovers as many new questions as we have already answered. 

A Showing Up government can aim at replacing the U.S. House of Representatives with the same total number of representatives – and the same number of representatives on a state by state basis – and using the same Capitol Building and offices in Washington, DC as exist today. 

A Showing Up government can aim at replacing state governments’ lower houses in the same way: same numbers, same buildings. The same for replacing City Councils: same numbers, same buildings. 

But there is no compelling need for an executive mansion (like the White House), as executives will be members of their legislative body. 

There is no compelling need to fill these old buildings in the same way with the same numbers, but it is easier than starting fresh. 

And gerrymandering remains an issue that needs to be dealt with. Who will decide the geographical boundaries of each neighborhood association? And districts all the way up to the state level. 

Scaling up this way will take two distinct paths: one to the top ranks of state government, the other to the federal government. Why? Because a state’s U.S. Congressional districts are NOT made up of the state’s own political districts. 

All the above suggestions assume representation of census numbers populations, NOT Showing Up populations. They therefore represent a hybrid of Showing Up with what went before. For example, while every House seat will represent roughly the same number of Americans (711,000 – 760,000 depending on the source of information), one House seat may represent 20,000 (1 representative for 36 citizens) Showing Up citizens while another will represent 500 (1 representative for 1440 citizens) Showing Up citizens. Which is more fair, more just, more productive of good government (and who decides what THAT means?)? 

In other words, will there be any attempt to craft the boundaries of neighborhood associations with equal base populations? And, scaling up – all the way from neighborhood associations to a federal government – will representation be based on underlying populations (as now) or on the number of Americans who Show Up at each level of government? 

Part of me – the part of me that was overtaken by this idea – doesn’t really care about representing everyone, most of whom don’t care anyway (“ye will know them by their actions”). If they don’t like how others are governing, let them get more involved and speak their piece. If you would argue with me, “they don’t have the time,” I’d ask you “how many hours / week do they spend watching TV and consuming alcohol?” This idea is much closer to self-rule than anything that went before. Much more open to having the little guy truly be in charge. All you have to do is Show Up! 

No simple idea is ever that simple when it comes time to really think about it! Work it! 

Feedback appreciated!