On public interests

Reiko Aoki's idea to provide electoral weight to children while allowing a child's parents to exercise the right looks to have one major problem on its face (which I'll deal with in a later post). But for now, it is worth using Aoki's concern about weighting the interests of different groups as a starting point to point out the real value of a vote - and in particular the reason why most citizens should want to emphasize the power of a vote rather than being cynical about the prospect of one vote deciding an election.

As things stand now, most mainstream political discussion takes place through the lens of parties which have their own reasons for keeping a relatively narrow focus on tranches of marginal voters. Yes, any party would love to win a substantial share of the 40% of disaffected voters into its own camp - but since that's seen as a remote possibility at best, more effort gets put toward influencing the much smaller number of voters who are seen as far more likely to be able to tilt the results of the next election. And that may make for a rational short-term choice from the perspective of a political strategist.

But what makes that strategy rational is the assumption that a large and increasing number of voters won't show up - or at least, not based on the actions of any political party. And that latter point is key, as a message from a perceived outsider to a citizen or community whose members hold and reinforce a sense of being uninterested in the political sphere figures to have little impact.

So the real question looks to me to be this: how can we convince the 40% of citizens who don't bother to vote that their votes do matter, even when the parties' rational strategy doesn't seek to engage them all that closely?

Fortunately, there seems to be a relatively simple answer.

No matter how idealistic or cynical a view one wants to take, there doesn't seem to be much room for dispute that governmental authority as determined through electoral politics is one of many interconnected sources of power in society at large. And importantly, the electoral arena is the only one where that power is allotted equally among individuals, rather than being subject to concentration which excludes most of the public.

So for anybody outside the genuinely elite few which are able to exercise disproportionate influence in other spheres, the ability to have decisions made based on collective interests and preferences is a solution, not a problem. And the most obvious course of action for any individual who perceives a need for change in society at large is to emphasize the system that allows for the shared interests of the many to be reflected in the law of the land - rather than abandoning it to those who already have so much clout through other means.

But of course, the idea of using the radically equal system of one person, one vote only works for somebody who perceives both a need and a likelihood of actually making changes. So what about those who simply don't think it's worth bothering?

I'd hope that the answer to the first question would change a few minds on its own. But it's also worth asking rhetorically whether it's possible to fully disengage.

There, it's easy enough to make the seemingly uncontroversial point that government both directly (through its own actions) and indirectly (through its authority to regulate other actors in the interests of whoever is seen as worth catering to) impacts the lives of everybody under its jurisdiction. Perhaps more importantly, though, the real cynicism which so many people apparently hold would seem to reflect some acknowledgment that there's a gap between what is and what ought to be. And the recognition that something better is possible should at least serve as reason enough to look for opportunities to get there - even if such opportunities aren't seen as obvious among one's current political choices.

Of course, no one post or argument is likely to make a great deal of difference on its own. But I'll suggest to those who see the need to achieve better societal outcomes that the first step is to start talking positively about the value of democratic decision-making as the best means for most citizens to have their interests taken into account. And the more that message spreads among Canadians who are disengaged from the party system, the more incentive Canada's political parties will have to pick it up for themselves.