March 4, 2014: Political Innovation – Reforming an Outdated Government Model

In Chapter 9 of The Future of Technological Civilization by Edward Woodhouse, the author makes a variety of suggestions to encourage the government to make better educated decisions related to technological and social development. I agree that our current government model is outdated and that incentives/routine assessments need to be introduced so that politicians can make better decisions for the public and so that enlightened citizens can have a stronger voice in this democracy.

I strongly agree that a key reason behind our stagnant government is that citizens frequently use the excuse that politicians are so corrupt that their positions are not worth becoming educated about. As a result, our nation is dominated by voluntarily ignorant citizens. I know plenty of people my age that adopt the veil of ignorance and refuse to learn about politics because of its complexity and how untrustworthy they believe government officials to be. In fact I would say that Chris Hedges’ article on our democracy’s masked totalitarianism is an example of an individual paranoid and angry of our government. Rather than make an effort to better understand specific politicians that are against the deterioration of the Fourth and Fifth amendments, he maliciously slanders the governing body as a whole and provides no other possible solutions to this problem besides a civilian uprising. It is due to this voluntary ignorance that the government never changes, because it's the same pool of people that vote and get involved year after year. "The wider the consultation and the more that authority is shared with those who have needs and insights bearing on the issues under consideration, the less likely that insiders can impose an unintelligent course of action" (Woodhouse p. 104). Australia has a very effective voting model by incorporating some type of consequence for people that choose not to vote. Like Woodhouse mentions, positive reinforcement tends to be much more powerful, therefore paying citizens for being involved in their government could be an excellent way to encourage everyone to be more involved as well as support the economy. Also, including a short exam prior to voting would ensure that the citizens voting are educated in some way about the current status of the nation, and therefore are making valuable and intelligent decisions. The government cannot make trustworthy decisions if the people don't put any trust in them first, which can be overcome by giving the people incentives to be educated and vote for officials that have the country's best interests at heart.

Politicians should be given incentives with either money or publicity to become more educated about the decisions they're making for our country. If politicians were financially rewarded for having the nation's best interests in mind then they would be less inclined to procure money through dishonest means. Incorporating a ranking system based on the values and societal plans of each government official would help weed through who can stay in office and therefore could help to collect a broader range of politicians from different backgrounds involved (Woodhouse, p. 115). This would prevent long-standing politicians who do not make significant contributions to society from using their wealth to greedily hold onto their positions. As a result, more positions in government would be open for fresh perspectives. Publicity or praise could be awarded to those individuals that express meaningful ideas and concern for both the everyday citizen and the nation as a whole, which would provide further motivation to these individuals to work hard so they don't let their people down.

In many different occupations, examinations and assessments are used to guarantee that practitioners are qualified to be considered experts in their respective field. Lawyers take the BAR exam, doctors take the MCATs, nurses take the NCLEX, and engineers take the FE exam. Politicians have such a strong influence on the direction of this nation that they should also be required to take some sort of assessment to ensure that they are educated about people they are meant to protect. Politicians with a certificate to demonstrate their knowledge about the economic, social, and technological status of the country would have more credibility in the eyes of the public and this would build more trust between citizens and government. Elizabeth Warren is a great example of an educated politician (a professor at multiple universities) whom is working to collaborate with other educated politicians from different political parties (Dailykos, 2013). This demonstrates that there is an effort being made by this group to gather as many perspectives as possible to have a plan of action that suits a larger majority of the population more of the time.

The current US government model is in serious need of reform. If citizens were given positive reinforcement for voting, then there would be involvement and control given to more educated voices. Through incentivizing politicians with financial awards and publicity for their knowledge and consideration of the nation needs, government officials that are truly compassionate for the people can be given a voice and the power-hungry can be removed from office. Citizens could use rankings and assessments to make informed voting decisions and promote trust and a better understanding of politicians. The people need to have a stronger presence to support government officials that have the best interests of the nation in mind.

References

Hedges, Chris. “Are We Witnessing the Last Gasp of American Democracy?” Alternet 6 Jan. 2014. Web. 2 March 2014.

“15 Things Everyone Would Know if There Were a Liberal Media” DailyKos 7 Aug. 2013. Web. 2 March 2014.

Woodhouse, Edward. The Future of Technological Civilization. University Readers, 2013. Print.