Immediate Goals - RichardAlexanderGreen/WorldGovGame GitHub Wiki

There is only so much we can do to remove the governmental defects identified in Motivations. In particular, we can only do so much to reduce corruption. Any system we invent will be gamed, any rule circumvented. But we can invent to change the game and increase the visibility of those who circumvent the system.

The following list identifies the defects we expect will be reduced by our design for a draft democracy.

• Representatives are corrupted by campaign contributions and other bribes.
  Advertising is expensive. When a candidate needs to advertise in order to improve their chances of being elected, they become beholden to those who paid for the advertising. There is a well known tendency to reciprocate in some fashion. That means that the representative may be giving priority to contributors before constituents.
  • With no elections, there will be no advertising.
  • In the draft democracy, no one knows until the last minute which committee a draftee will be assigned to. This reduces and may even eliminate the ability of lobbyists to secretly bribe representatives. (It may be necessary to "sequester" representatives while they are deliberating.)
• Election dialogs are distorted.
  Advertising distorts dialog. Most voters have little time for advertising or even reading editorials. As a result, ad writers and editors deliberately over-simplify and distort candidate positions.
  • With no elections, there will be no advertising.
  • The current system tends to emphasize personalities over issues.
  • In the proposed draft democracy, personality is no longer a question. So "public information" may focus more on issues. Disinformation is still possible, but probably less effective because draftees will be working with specific proposals rather than distorted agendas.
• Voter turn-out is poor.
  When voter turn-out is poor, the "sample" of opinion is in danger of being unrepresentative of the general populace.
  • In the proposed draft democracy, the draftees are selected at random from the entire population of adult tax-payers (People who pay taxes allocated to the jurisdiction). (See: Levels.) This means that every adult has an equal chance of participating.
• Taxes are not coupled to benefits.
  I do not mind paying a tax as long as I believe that I will receive the benefits the tax funds. Governments tax assets and transactions because they can, not because they provide benefits directed to those asset and transaction owners. Taxes go into a "general fund" which is then allocated by processes that are rather opaque.
  • The proposed fair taxes earmark taxes for specific sets of purposes. Thus the costs (taxes) are tied to the benefits.
• Insolvency results when commitments are not appropriately funded.
  Many governments are in trouble because they failed to fund long-term commitments. For example, municipal and state governments (and other corporations) have unfunded pension and health care commitments to their employees. National governments have poorly funded pension and health care commitments to their citizens.
  • Every proposal on the legislative agenda must identify how it will be funded.
  • A proposal will not pass if the legislators do not allocate sufficient revenue shares to support it.