Portions of text from Part I of It Is.

RENEWED DEMOCRACY

One of many ways to make our world better is the following. Continuously improve democracy. Invent better ways to choose government officials. And see which ones work best. First try them in a few cities. Then try the best of these in a few counties. And try the best of these in a few states. Finally use the very best for the nation. Residents of places trying the new ways vote on the results. And their vote becomes part of the government record open to all.

Most of these ideas aren’t new. They’re from the first democracy. They make sense. They worked for people in the past. And they can work for us today.

Democracy comes from the ancient Greek word démo-kratía for people-power.

Democracy also means the following.

·   When the largest number of people in a group agrees on something, it’s as if the whole group agrees on it. This is also called majority rule.

·   People and their laws have equal respect for each person’s rights.

·   People govern themselves. They do this in one of two ways. The first is direct democracy, where each person helps make and enforce laws. The second is indirect democracy, where people choose representatives to help make and enforce laws.

Today, almost two thirds of the world’s people are governed by some kind of democracy. But many of these democracies are being corrupted by new powers. These are the powers of extreme greed and mass media.

Democracy is also in danger of being corrupted by the growing number of ignorant and arrogant people. Many of them don’t care enough to vote. Some don’t learn enough about things they vote for. Some vote for people who keep making promises they don’t keep. And some of the ignorant and arrogant get voted into office and then harm others.

In today’s democracies, people only use voting to choose their officials. This is wide open to corruption by money, power, and mass media. In many places, this is harming more people every day. Today, many governments mainly work for some of the super rich. They don’t work for ordinary people.

Many are starting to see we must do a better job protecting democracy around the world. We must protect it at all levels. We need to begin with councils of local governments (e.g., cities, towns, municipalities, and communes).

Most people agree that some of the super rich run many of the world’s local government councils. Most people don’t have enough time or money to campaign for government office. So they don’t try. Usually the cost to campaign is based on the size of the city. So only a very few can afford to campaign in the largest cities. The ones who can are super rich or those with super rich friends.

Some of the super rich want power over cities. But they don’t want to serve in a local government council. Some don’t have the time. Some don’t want others learning about their private lives or businesses. Some don’t want to do the hard work of campaigning. So some of the super rich simply buy power by giving money to campaigns of certain candidates. If their candidates win, they tell them how to vote. It’s that simple. And it happens all the time. It happens in small to big cities around the world.

Some local government councils have members that appear to represent the variety of society. They have men and women with different skin colors, religions, and national backgrounds. But most have to collect money for expensive campaigns. And this puts them at risk of owing favors to the people who give them money. So it doesn’t matter how much a council seems to represent variety. Using only elections is wide open to corruption.

In governments of cities to nations, some of the few take power away from the many. In most places, government is not democracy. It’s not démo-kratía. It’s not people-power.

The First Democracy

History’s first recorded democracies started in the cities of Greece around 600 B.C. The people of Greece tried many ways to have democracy. They saw which ones worked best. And they tried the best in bigger cities.

The first democracy that used representatives started in Greece’s largest city, Athens. It lasted from around 600 B.C. to 300 B.C. In Athens’ democracy, people used lotteries to choose almost all of their government officials. They also used lotteries to choose jurors for public trials. Public voting was used to choose very few officials. Voting was mainly used to choose ten equal ranking generals. A general couldn’t make or change laws. He couldn’t interpret or judge laws. And he couldn’t start wars. He could only obey orders. The only people who could propose laws were officials chosen by lotteries. And the people of Athens were the ones who accepted or rejected these proposed laws — by public vote.

People didn’t have much trust in using public voting to choose officials. They felt it gave too much of the people’s power away to some of the super rich and those who could spread messages to the public.

People of Athens used lotteries to choose official members of their Council of 500, which made proposed laws. Only men could become Council members. And they had to be at least 30 years old and citizens of Athens. These things meant much to people at that time in history. In other democracies, officials had to be men of a certain race. And they had to own land. It was like this for some of the other early Greek democracies. And it was this way for the early American democracy.

The Council of 500 had members who represented ten districts. Each district used lotteries to choose 50 men from its people to represent the district.

The Council used lotteries to choose presiding officers from current Council members. It chose a new Council presiding officer every day. Each month, it would choose presiding officers from one district’s group of Council members. The Greek calendar had ten months in a year. So every district was represented in the position of presiding officer for one full month each year. A person could only be presiding officer up to two times in their life.

Athens used an Assembly of citizens to vote on accepting laws proposed by the Council. Almost any citizen could come to Assembly meetings. But only men — who were at least 18 years old — could vote. At one time, the Assembly had room for up to 6,000 citizens. During Assembly meetings, only Council members could introduce laws for acceptance by Assembly vote. But all citizens could suggest ideas for laws to Council members.

People of Athens used lotteries much more than public voting. They did this because they knew lotteries protected democracy from corruption by some of the super rich and those who spread messages to the public. And using lotteries helped people know what democracy means. Lotteries gave more people the chance to govern and be governed. A wider variety of people were represented in government.

Thousands of years ago, some of the world’s smartest people knew lotteries protected democracy. One of them was Aristotle. He lived from 384 B.C. to 322 B.C. And he wrote an encyclopedia of almost all knowledge of his time. He also taught people how to use logic, reason, and laws. Because of these things, many say he made much of the way we think.

Aristotle encouraged people to keep democracy safe by using lotteries to choose officials. Today, democracy is much more at risk of being harmed.

Today, things are very different from Aristotle’s time. The super rich are many times richer. Some businesses are richer than countries. And election campaigns cost much more. Modern campaigns use TV, radio, and other mass media. Long ago, they used town criers, leaflets, and posters. Today, messages are spread much faster and to many more people. In only a few minutes, mass media can easily change the thoughts of millions. But some things haven’t changed much. People can still spread lies and rumors. And they can still spread unfair news that makes others look good or bad.

Lotteries Today

Long ago, people of Athens used lotteries to choose government officials and trial jurors. But today, people only use them to choose jurors. Why? Some think this is to make sure the super rich can have fair trials.

Lotteries aren’t used for justice in government, because some of the super rich would lose power. And they don’t think they’d get anything in return. Some know they’d get a more secure and peaceful world for themselves and their children. But to most of them, much money and power are worth more than these things.

By seeing how jurors are screened and selected for trials, we can learn how to have more justice in government. In most democracies, here’s how they’re chosen.

First, government workers make a list of candidates. These candidates must be at least a certain age. They must be citizens of the country and residents of the area. And they must be free of ever committing a felony crime. The workers use public records to screen for these candidates.

Next, the workers use lotteries to choose people from the first list. The people who are chosen must come to a government office for testing. Laws force them to do this. Government workers test them for mental problems. And they test them for problems with the language used at trials. The workers put the names of people who pass these tests on a second list.

People on the second list must visit another office for more testing. High ranking government workers and private lawyers test them by asking questions. They make notes on the answers. Then they compare the notes in private. If they like peoples’ answers, they put their names on a third list. People on the third list are forced to be jurors. People are paid very little for their time spent being screened and being jurors. Almost always, the people doing the final testing are much richer and more educated than the people being tested.

Some think there are problems with all of this. They think many of the rich find ways to not be jurors. They think that many of the poor value how much jurors are paid, because it’s more than what they earn.

Some think the final testing is unfair, because it doesn’t have to use the same questions with everyone. And it’s unfair because rich people decide which answers are good and bad. All of this lets them choose jurors who favor the rich. At times, they choose rich jurors who feel sorry for other rich people. Or they choose ignorant jurors who can be easily fooled into favoring the rich. They get fooled into using their emotions instead of facts and reason.

Some think we should choose jurors using a fairer way. They think we can find a new way to choose honest people who use facts and reason. They think the same way should be used to choose both government officials and jurors. And some think that jurors should serve terms of office and get paid much more.

The following are a few more thoughts and questions. Some think if we use lotteries to choose jurors and officials, then we should not screen them in any way. They think doing this will force society to fix its problems. They think that if people with problems sit next to others in councils, society will be forced to help people get better.

Others think that if lotteries are used, some kind of screening is needed. They don’t want criminals — or the crazy and ignorant — in government and trial juries.

Another question about screening is the following. If we use screening, what’s the best way to do it? If we use written tests, there’s a risk they’ll be changed over time to choose selfish, dishonest people. If we only choose people with things like college degrees, then this can be unfair. There are smart, honest people without degrees. And there are selfish, dishonest people with them. So how can we screen in a way that is wise and difficult to corrupt?

We need to imagine new ways to solve old problems. Many know our power to imagine new things is worth more than our power to know old things. This is because there are limited old things to know. But there’s no limit on new things. When we imagine, we become open to the whole world and all the things we’ll ever know.

There are many ways to do things. And for many things, there’s not only one right way or a perfect way. We simply need to use our imagination, have a sense of humor, and do our best.

Renewed Democracy

Here’s what a renewed democracy could be like.

People use public voting, government council voting, and lotteries to choose their representatives. They use public voting to choose candidates for local government council. And they use lotteries to choose council members from the candidates. Government councils vote to choose candidates for higher offices and higher councils. Then the public votes to accept or reject the council’s choices of candidates. These two steps are used to choose representatives for government councils of counties (e.g., districts, shires, and prefectures), states (e.g., provinces, territories, and regions), and nations. The two steps are also used to choose these governments’ chief executive officers (e.g., governors of states — and presidents and prime ministers of nations).

When people vote to accept or reject officials, they can also have referendums on other things. A referendum is a public vote to accept or reject something proposed by the government or a group.

Officials can serve only two terms in county, state, and national levels. They’re paid well and guaranteed good jobs when they leave. Compared to the high cost of corruption, this is a bargain.

All of this gives people more power to govern themselves.

Local Government Council

The public votes for people to be in a group of candidates for local government council. Then lotteries are used to choose council members from this group. People can campaign and spend as much as they want.

To be a candidate, a person must be at least 18 years old. The person must be a citizen of the country and a resident of the city. The person must be free of ever committing a felony crime.

In a city with more than 100,000 residents, the person must get at least 1,000 votes. In a city with 50,000 to 100,000, the person must get votes from at least one percent of the residents. In cities with 10,000 to 50,000, the person must get at least 500 votes. Cities with less than 10,000 don’t use lotteries. In these cities, people who get the most votes become council members.

Chief Executive Officer of
Local Government and Members of
County Government Council

After serving a full term together and learning about each other’s fitness for higher office, the local government council does the following. It elects a nominee for mayor to serve in the next term. And it elects nominees to be the city’s representatives in the county government council. It elects volunteer nominees from the current local council.

Next, there’s a public vote where local residents accept or reject the nominees. If they reject the nominees, then the council votes for other current council members. And there’s another public vote, where residents accept or reject the new nominees.

Chief Executive Officer of
County Government and Members of
State Government Council

After serving a full term together and learning about each other’s fitness for higher office, the county government council does the following. It elects a nominee for chief executive officer of the county government council to serve in the next term. And it elects nominees to be the county’s representatives in state government council. It elects volunteer nominees from the current county council.

Next, there’s a public vote where county residents accept or reject the nominees. If they reject the nominees, then the council elects other current council members. And there’s another public vote, where residents accept or reject the new nominees.

Council of Chief Executive Officers of
State Government and Members of
National Government Council

After serving a full term together and learning about each other’s fitness for higher office, the state government council does the following. It elects nominees for a council of chief executive officers of the state government to serve in the next term. And it elects nominees to be the state’s representatives in the national government council. It elects volunteer nominees from the current state council.

Next, there’s a public vote where state residents accept or reject the nominees. If they reject the nominees, then the council elects other current state council members. And there’s another public vote, where residents accept or reject the new nominees.

Council of Chief Executive Officers of
National Government

After serving a full term together and learning about each other’s fitness for higher office, the national government council does the following. It elects nominees for a council of chief executive officers of the national government to serve in the next term. And it elects nominees to be the nation’s representatives in a world morals council. It elects volunteer nominees from the current national council.

Next, there’s a public vote where the nation’s residents accept or reject the nominees. If they reject the nominees, then the council votes for other current national council members. And there’s another public vote, where residents accept or reject the new nominees.

Chief Executive Officers of
State and National Governments

Modern inventions ended the need to have only one person as chief executive officer of state and national governments. These inventions made it easy for groups of people to make big decisions and handle emergencies. These inventions include wireless telephones, computers, satellites, and airplanes. People in many nations already trust groups to make big decisions in their justice systems. These groups are their supreme courts. Usually they have nine members. And each member has an equal vote.

In this renewed democracy, having only one chief executive officer of state and national governments is replaced by having a council of chief executive officers. This lowers the chance for corruption. It’s more difficult to bribe and corrupt a group of people than only one person.

The chief executive officer of a state is replaced by a council of chief executive officers. And the chief executive officer of a nation is replaced by a council of chief executive officers. Each council has at least nine members. And each member has an equal vote. Council members are approved by a public vote. Each council has a presiding officer. And each council member is presiding officer for equal time during a year. The order of being presiding officer is chosen by lottery.

What to Expect

The following are some of the things we can expect from this renewed democracy.

Government is less corrupt because public voting is only used for the following. It’s used to choose candidates for local government councils. It’s used for referendums. And it’s used to accept or reject government council choices of candidates for higher offices. This careful use of public voting makes it more difficult for money and mass media to corrupt government. It also reduces the need for political parties. All of this helps people save money in the following ways.

·   There are fewer officials making poor decisions that waste public taxes and private money.

·   Political parties have much less power. So people don’t need to spend much money on them or expensive campaigns. And people don’t need to spend money on fixing problems from the distrust, anger, and division that parties make in society.

In this renewed democracy, more people have a chance to serve in all levels of government. This helps people in the following ways.

·   There’s more variety of people in government. There’s more variety of women and men, skin colors, beliefs, national backgrounds, jobs, income levels, and so on. More people can clearly see they're represented in their government.

·   More people can know what democracy means, because more can govern and be governed.

·   More people respect one another and the laws they make because more people take part in government.

·   There’s more respect for police, judges, and others who enforce the people’s laws.

In this renewed democracy, local government councils have much more meaning. Serving in a local government council is the first step a person must take to advance in government. Because of this, more people go to local government council meetings. More try to get voted to local government council. And more people vote.

Top officials are voted into government by people who know them and trust them. Big campaigns are no longer the main way to get into government. And top officials must first prove they can do a good job for their neighbors. They must first serve in local government council for at least a year. And if they do a good job, their council member peers — and the public — vote to promote them to higher office.

This is different from today, where people can become chief executive officers of states — and members of national government councils — without first proving they’re trusted by their neighbors and other peers who know them.

In this renewed democracy, officials at county and higher levels must first serve in every lower level of government. This makes them better experienced in governing. And it helps them know more about problems at every level of society.

In this renewed democracy, it’s more difficult to corrupt the chief executive offices of states and nations when they’re replaced by executive councils.

Number of Representatives

In most democracies, the number of representatives from a governed area is based on the area’s number of people. This renewed democracy keeps doing this. But it uses a rough logarithm to not reward fast growing numbers of people and crowding. Here’s an example of how the number of county government council members is chosen.

·   As one group, cities with more than 1,000 and up to 10,000 have three county council members. These cities choose a group of candidates, and use lotteries to choose the three from this group.

·   A city with more than 10,000 and up to 100,000 has one.

·   A city with more than 100,000 and up to 1 million has two.

·   A city of more than 1 million has three. These cities are divided into districts with councils that are chosen like local government councils. At the end of a term, each district council elects a few of its members to be candidates for the county government council. District residents vote to accept or reject them. Those who are accepted enter a citywide group of candidates. And the city uses a lottery to choose its nominees for the county council from this group. Finally, city residents vote to accept or reject the nominees.

Rules

This renewed democracy could use the following rules.

Lotteries. Lottery drawings must be watched in person by at least 100 volunteers who are chosen by lottery. Their names become part of the government record open to all. A live view showing all 100 people and the drawing must be televised. Drawings must use machines that choose from marked objects having the same size, shape, weight, and so on.

Public Voting. Public voting uses secret voting and paper ballots. Ballots are stored for at least five years, in case a recount is needed. Voting is held in places where the most of the public usually goes each week, such as shopping centers.

Collecting and Counting Votes. People who collect and count voting ballots can only do this up to four years. Government councils choose candidates to collect and count ballots. And the public votes to accept or reject the candidates.

Getting Listed on a Voting Ballot. To be listed on a voting ballot for local government council, people must be at least a certain age. They must be a citizen of the country. They must be a resident of the city. They must be free of ever committing a felony crime. They must make a list of people who plan to vote for them. A minimum number of people’s names and signatures must be on the list. They must give the list to the local government. And the list becomes part of the government record open to all.

News about Candidates and Officials. News about candiates for office — and people already in office — could be shared in the following ways.

·   Candidates for local government council must write a summary of their fitness for office. The government publishes these summaries in newspapers. Equal newspaper space is given to each candidate.

·   If needed, the government holds public debates. The same questions are given to each candidate. And there’s equal time for answers. Live public broadcasts of debates should be made through TV and radio. And all of the debate questions and answers become part of the government record open to all.

·   In any democracy, candidates for office — and people already in office — are at risk of being harmed by the abuse of mass media’s power. At times, corrupt people use this power to invade privacy. They use it to broadcast private things that aren’t related to how well a person performs in office. In any democracy, laws are needed to limit this power. Laws are needed to limit the kinds of private things mass media can broadcast.

Council Meetings. In many places, government council meetings are open to the public. And each council member’s vote is open. Recordings, minutes, and notes of these meetings become part of the government record open to all. This renewed democracy keeps all these things open to the public. This includes council meetings to choose candidates for higher councils and offices.

Attendance. Serving in a council means attending at least 80% of its meetings.

Term Limits. To reduce chances for corruption, people can only serve two terms in each office — in each level of government — during their lifetime.