In this weeks readings(1,2) we investigate deliberative democracy in action instead of in theory. We can use the toolkits we've discussed in class and apply them to these situations presented in the readings. These tools will help us get a different perspective on the problems we face and look for new solutions. First identifying problems in our own government, we can observe a tool being used to solve real-world problems just like ours and then look to take a similar mindset to reform our own government to better address our identified problems. Deliberative democracy and other interesting political innovations in the form of reforming government can better serve our governments providing bold and progressive legislature that is representative of the desires of the people, and better structuring the legislative branch to work for those same people.
Deliberative democracy has shown results where the current U.S government has failed to come up with a solution. Obama has recently appointed a "blue ribbon commission" to study the federal deficit. These blue ribbon commissions are commonly seen as an admission defeat, since they have not come up with much to show in the past. It's simply a way for the government, in this case a president, to say, "Well, we can't fix this, so study it or whatever." It's a way to appear to be doing something but not actually do anything. This type of bureaucracy is exactly what leads us to desire implementations of deliberative democracy in the first place. Deliberative democracy can generate the bold and concise legislation that is needed in these cases and it would be a defined process with a timeline and once it was done we could move on. Things would get done. We can change them later if we need to but it's better to make an educated decision and be done and move on than it is to do nothing. In a small portion of China these things are being deliberated on already. The coastal region of Zeguo, population 120,000, uses deliberative democracy to deliver a bold and credible piece of legislation that comes from the people annually to decide the budget. These decisions are overseen by a panel of experts to offer their knowledge, fielding questions for the decision makers. The people have proven that deliberative democracy works. They even implemented wind-powered energy solutions that cost more but provide a more sustainable source of energy. The people make an educated and intelligent decision, even when they know it will cost more in taxes. These are exactly the decisions that the usual representative democracy we have cannot seem to make efficiently. This method of decision making allows people the chance to do the right thing in a collective of their peers. All that is needed is a resource of knowledge and a deadline and the people produce real results. This tool is a great way to create a real process to make decisions. It's something that can work and actually takes deliberative democracy out of the "New England Town Hall" style methods we recall when we hear the name. Looking through the conceptual filters provided by our political innovations we can see from a different perspective and better the political systems of today; learning from the past and applying ideas in the present for a better future.
Things like the example from China show that deliberative democracy works, so why not try going larger scale with our own government. We can now apply our observed tool to a different situation. An example of this could be to get rid of a state-level two-tiered house and senate and replace them with a single assembly that has the same amount of delegates. These elected delegates would then represent a smaller fraction of the state. This kind of division allows a representative to represent the needs of a smaller group of people, whose voices can actually be heard. The delegate can manage 300,000 people instead of 1 Million on a state-level. That's a 70% reduction! The lowest level of elected official would be 5% of the current 1 Million in the example in the second reading. This kind of representation gives people more power to make their own decision. The candidates for these positions could be deliberated on by a smaller group of people, reducing the need for big-spending on campaigns. That takes the money out of politics; something that so desperately needs to happen. The U.S. is falling apart from the corruption and spending on these electoral campaigns. If there wasn't a pay-to-win philosophy to elect officials, we might not have such a terrible time getting things done in Washington. The people who are there are the people that actually produce results and want to be there. not just whoever payed the most for the seat. It also cuts out lobbyists, another thing we need to implement from our theoretical toolkit of political innovation. These things could be implemented today and we could see real results. No more "mass parties that field partisan candidates who compete to represent millions of people presumed to have the same interests are, after all, relics of the early industrial age of mass production.”
These political innovations can help our country do away with clunky old government and come in with new, maybe even digital, forms of dealing with the legislative branch, assuming we even stick with the checks and balances style government we see now. These political innovations can be applied as tools to gut the slow pay-to-win government we hate and replace it with a system that better represents the people. On a smaller scale, we can use these conceptual tools to better see ways to tackle tough problems. No more standing around and waiting for people who don't actually represent anyone talk about things they don't understand.
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