Full Manifesto
PG 1
Preface
For many years I have thought that there needed to be a new form of government, a truly
accountable government, free from the corruption of favours, and as unbound from
outside interests as possible.
That there must be a better balance of liberty for the individual, against the needs of the many, and a more equitable distribution of power.
I believe that an accountable, filtered E-Democracy is the best form of governance for
our current and future society.
Introduction
Individual Democracy is a practical manifesto, herein to be referred to as ID, it is an E-Democracy [internet based participatory democracy].
The average person has more power in their own government, and over their own life.
If you don't wish to participate in any form of government, or voting you don't have to.
Your interaction in your own governance, is purely up to YOU.
Anyone can vote for the merit appointed ministers at the head of the bureaucracy's.
A representative free democracy, where people are their own executive and vote on laws
and bills directly, after passing a comprehension questionnaire on the proposed bill.
The bills can be proposed by the public, or by the bureaucracy.
There is still a bureaucracy, and vote ratified Ministers, but they are merit appointed
bureaucrats, rather then politicians, anyone can vote for them, with nothing barring that
right.
In the UK Parliament in 2008* there were 101 bills before parliament, 3 were given
Royal Assent, ie only 3 were passed in to Law.
If you take 101 bills as standard, if you wanted to vote on every bill, you would have to
spend about 10 hours a month on information pack's, and about 1hours 20minutes on the
actual questionnaire.
*1] http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2008-09/equality/documents.html
I would imagine that most people would not want to vote on everything, so the average
time spent on self government would be much less, possibly one hour* every two months?
*Based on average reading speeds in the UK, and USA.
So would you be prepared to spend at most, half a day a month, so you so you can govern
yourself?
As ID, absorbs all past laws that don't conflict with its constitution, therefore it should be a peaceful
transition from a standard western representative democracy, to ID.
Individual democracy proposes a decentralized power structure, as it is a participatory based
democracy, but it has a hierarchical organization in the bureaucracy, so there is clarity and direct
accountability.
In some ways you could compare individual democracy to a corporate system, with powerful
shareholders and an accountable board.
One of the main arguments for local government, is that people need to feel as if their voices are
heard. In ID as you govern yourself, there is no need for local government/councils on that basis.
There is the argument that only local understanding can increase efficiency, local understanding is
necessary in particular situations, but with the internet you can have a hierarchical bureaucracy, and
a local understanding, as a centralized location is unnecessary. Another point is that locals should
have a greater voice in local issues, with ID that is the case, as the closer you are to the centre of the
location based issue the greater your voice is proportionally in the national structure.
In England, currently councillors can earn over £250,000, though the average is closer to £134,000,
without local councillors, the government could save substantial amounts. It was recently reported
that in 2008/09 the cost of the current form government system in Britain was 1/2 a billion pounds.
The savings from removing representatives and council’s, would fund the money to offset the
questionnaire voting system. If managed properly there should be major savings, which either could
benefit the population with lower tax's, or be put to use for the betterment of society in schools, or
hospitals etc.
With a participatory E-Democracy, the social compact would be continually validated.
Declaration of Intent
Most new government systems are built on ideas that have gone before, with a few important
adjustments. In the case of ID, its foundations are built on the ideals I cherish, direct participatory
government, e-democracy, meritocracy, privacy and freedom.
I understand the fallibility of human nature, and as many governments have proven ideals do not
stand up to our weakness, so any government must be very carefully structured.
I believe that we are, and should be responsible for our government, and that our government
should not take responsibility away form us, that as thinking responsible adults, we should not be
infantilized by our government.
I D's is a meritocratic accountable bureaucracy, which runs a form of referendum based,
responsible, direct e-democracy.
I D's main tenant is responsibly for ourselves, that our government should help us, not look after us,
that we are our own government, and as we can interact directly in our own government we do not
need representation.
We need to think what we want from a government, once we have done that, we can see how the
government structure can fit that function.
As society's evolve and grow, population and technology levels change, forms of government must
adapt so they are the most functional for that society's needs.
We must accept responsibility for our own governance, otherwise we will be ruled by interests other
then our own.
The Surveillance state is very near, if not already here, and I believe we will be loosing civil, and
possibly even human rights in coming years, if we maintain the current representative democratic
model.
By accepting responsibility, we gain back power from the centralized government and any external
interests.
As our personal freedoms and privacy are lost in the years ahead with encroaching technologies, we
must have a balance. I believe that the best option is with a responsible direct voting system, as we
do not need representation in the current technological age.
What we want from a government is the best representation of individual view points, within a
functioning governmental structure. With a clear rule of law, and an efficient accountable
bureaucracy, with the least intervention in personal freedom, all whilst maintaining an ordered but
fair and mobile society.
ID is not a revolutionary form of government, it should absorb any of the current bureaucracy’s
institutions and law’s, that do not conflict with it's constitution, or adapt them to ID's requirements
as necessary.
Modern democracies are no longer representative of the will of the people, such as evidenced by the
second Iraq war.
Corruption and other distortions of the voting process, show that the current model of government
is not fit for its purpose, in a mature and educated society.
We now have the technology for a functional direct democracy.
Form and Function of Individual Democracy
1 person 1 vote.
No Proxy Voting.
A public ratified meritocratic bureaucracy, with a clear accountable structure runs the country, with
the least bureaucracy possible for a functional government.
Every citizen has the right to vote for the heads of the bureaucracies.
With citizenry voting on bills, only after completing and passing, a comprehensive comprehension
questionnaire's on the subject of the proposed law.
The participatory vote is Yes, or No, or Abstain. If the citizen abstains, they must state why they
abstain. If more then 30% of the citizenry voting abstain, the bill must be rewritten, and the reasons
for the majority abstention must be addressed.
1 government email address per citizen.
Questionnaires and notices come in different priorities, they are published on the Government
Internet Site, and emailed to the citizenry. They are also in hard copy in the public library, and local
government community centres etc.
RED - which are Government suggested laws to be voted on in three months.
BLUE- which are local impact bills and notices - the blue laws work on a point system, all
citizens within 5 km of the proposed bill are given 10 points, all citizens within 20 km
are given 5 points, all the rest are given 1 point per vote.
GREEN which are citizen suggested laws to be voted up to government level, [i.e. Half a
million votes to push it up to government level].
All suggested laws also have a YELLOW attachment, which has information that is not need in the questionnaire, but is relevant to the proposed law.
This information can be constantly updated, with alerts sent out when the information updated.
If a important piece of information is deemed hidden in the yellow section, there is an hyper alert system in place, so the citizens can request a re-write of the red,green, or blue bill or law, if that happens an automatic investigation is launched in to the bureaucracies responsible.
ID is a government that has flexibility in its laws and structure, it has a built in mechanism for
change, so it can adapt readily to current moralities and advancing technologies.
Form of Government
The Bureaucracy
Any Under Minister, Minister, First Minister, Chief Minister or their deputies*, can be dismissed
from their position at any time by recommendation of their peers and over 50 % of the voting public [citizens who can be bothered to vote not % of population], or a 70% majority vote of no
confidence by the general public without any recommendation of the bureaucracies.
* Anyone and everyone can vote for representative officials without taking any form of
questionnaire.
One term is three years.
A new Ministry, or Under Ministry, may be created or an established one removed, if there
is a need by a recommendation* of the existing Chief Minister, Minister's or Under Minister's and must be ratified by 75% of the public vote.
*The recommendation must be explanatory and published in the majority of media.
In case of death, resignation, or if they are otherwise unable to fulfil their duties, the standard
protocol for the employment of the bureaucrats must be carried out, except in the case of the Chief Minister where there is a special protocol to follow[ re section on the Chief Minister and First Minister]
All bureaucrats should receive equal or more, remuneration then there counter parts in the private sector, this should encourage the most qualified people to be available for public office.
*[3] A representative official is an Under Minister, Minister, First Minister or Chief
Minister
All bureaucracies must be run with clarity and responsibility, with accountability to the citizens.
