Out of the box Be responsive to the wishes of the people
I asked the question - should a govt be responsive to the wishes of the people?

The initial response - 83% certainly, 17% impossible. 

Surely 100% should agree with this motherhood statement? Why did 17% said that it is impossible?

Well, the 17% probably realize that it is difficult to determine the wishes of the people. In any issue, there will be some people who are in favor of one option, while others prefer another option. 

For example, if the issue is - should the death penalty be abolished? Some people like it to be abolished and they have their reasons. But other people like to keep it, for another set of reasons.

Can we put this issue to a referendum, as it is done in Switzerland and some other countries or state? We can, but it is quite costly to organize a referendum and to make it compulsory for all the eligible people to cast their votes.

Is there a more efficient and reliable way?

I suggest this approach:

a) Create an online platform to carry out the "referendum"
b) Let the people who have an interest register to vote
c) State the issue with a yes/no vote and give the reasons for each choice
d) Invite the registered participants to cast their votes
e) Adjust the votes in each category (ethnic group, age band, gender, language) to reflect their actual proportion in the population. This will remove the bias when any group is over or under represented.

Using this approach, it should be possible to get a reliable indication of how the population feel about the issue, just by taking the results of the people who actually voted (say 1% of the population) and adjusting it to reflect the bias.

The lawmakers will be able to get a reliable indication of how the people at large feel about the issue and can make their decisions on the laws to reflect the wishes of the people.

Tan Kin Lian

Vote - do you like this approach?




 

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