An Overview of the Partial Redesign of the American Government Presented in Beyond Plutocracy

AMERICA IS NOT REALLY A DEMOCRACY BUT A PLUTOCRACY
Plutocracy is governance by the wealthy. Although it goes through the democratic-like motions of elections and voting, America is not the democracy that it proclaims itself to be but a plutocracy dominated everywhere by a powerful elite that serves itself first and best in every way.

BEYOND REALLY FIXES WHAT IS REALLY WRONG WITH OUR GOVERNMENT
The partial redesign of the American government presented in Beyond Plutocracy - True Democracy for America, hereafter simply Beyond, overcomes the tyranny of our current plutocracy and maximizes the responsible freedom of the individual while avoiding the tyranny that democracy can become. It really fixes in just the right way what is really wrong with our government.

A similar design may serve as the correct repair for all of the world’s governments and for every level of government. Correctly applied, it results in just, balanced, centered, peacefully evolving governance and relationships that we all seek within and among nations.

CAPITALISM MUST BE JUSTLY MANAGED BY AN HONEST GOVERNMENT
Capitalism, the market economy, is our best form of economic relationship. It motivates personal and local decision making, creativity, entrepreneurship, labor, and productivity; and it creates much wealth. But it does a poor job of justly distributing that wealth. Those who hold advantage take ever more advantage without limit. We turn to government to mitigate this shortcoming. Well and good … were government an honest broker. But, of course, our current government is not. Powerful, wealthy corporations and individuals reign supreme over and populate our government, corrupting it and using it to excessively serve their own ends, much to the detriment of the rest of the populace and the common good.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER IS THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL OF ALL POLITICAL ISSUES
The distribution of power is the most fundamental of all political issues. Good government and a good society require the correct distribution of power as their foundation. Excessive power cannot be held by an elite few, the simple majority, or any other faction of the populace.

In Beyond political power is shifted away from the elite few and toward the entire electorate by adding to our government a new limited direct democracy branch in which the electorate votes directly on issues. The powers of this new direct democracy branch are carefully balanced with the powers of the current representative branches.

THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE WRONG KIND OF DEMOCRACY
Democracy also has its shortcomings. Most proponents of direct democracy, including myself at first, fail to understand that unlimited majority-rule direct democracy, were it ever really tried, would only result in “the tyranny of democracy,” the political, economic, religious, and behavioral tyranny of the simple majority over the rest of the populace.

Thus, while moving away from the tyranny of plutocracy, it is important to avoid the tyranny that an incorrectly designed democracy can become. Our goal cannot be democracy just for the sake of democracy but to discover a kind of democracy that achieves and secures the fullest responsible freedom of the individual in a just, pluralistic, open, well-functioning society. In Beyond I present what I believe to be the right kind of democracy. It is by adding just the right kind and amount of direct democracy to our government (or to any government) that its representative branches are rendered truly representative of the entire electorate, plutocracy is overcome, and the fullest measures of true democracy and individual freedom are achieved.

THE DEMOS
I call the new direct democracy branch that I add to our government in Beyond the demos, pronounced as in democrat. It consists of a nationwide electronic network the entire electorate uses to practice a new kind of democracy I’ve named consensus democracy. Rather than the electorate having to face the extremely time consuming and nearly impossible task of voting referendum-style on a never-ending stream of complex issues, as most people think of direct democracy today, in the demos the electorate deliberates, votes, and achieves consensus on a limited set of twelve issues, (three electoral issues and nine economic issues).

The three electoral issues empower the members of the electorate to choose officeholders that resemble and truly represent them. The nine economic issues place directly into the hands of the electorate powers that powerful, wealthy elites currently hold in government and use to serve themselves first and best.

DEMOS VOTING
Demos voting is not periodic but ongoing. Each voter keeps a vote “riding” on each of the twelve demos issues that he or she may change at any time from almost anywhere. Whether kept as is or changed, each vote must be “refreshed” at least once a year.

Voting on the twelve demos issues is not merely a right but the civic duty of every of-age citizen. It is not a burdensome duty. If one knows one’s mind, as most of us will, voting can take as little as five or ten minutes per year. Participation in demos deliberations is optional. One may participate in deliberations as little or as much as one wants.

CONSENSUS DEMOCRACY
Unlike majority-rule democracy, the consensus democracy practiced by the demos produces no winners or losers but always results in a just consensus—“the golden mean”—of the entire electorate. Every vote equally and continuously affects the current consensus of the demos. Like the heart and breathing rates and temperature regulation in our bodies, the demos consensus avoids extremes and tends toward a moderate norm. The demos consensus changes slowly over time as conditions, demographics, and our decisions change, producing responsive, just, centered, peacefully evolving governance.

THE NINE DEMOS ECONOMIC ISSUES
When voting on economic issues, demos members encounter no mathematics but only make a few simple choices based on the traffic signal colors green, yellow, and red. Demos computers continuously recalculate the vote tallies every few seconds and update nine economic parameters or limits within which our government and nation must function.

The demos has the sole power to tax at the federal level. Using five of its nine economic issues, in a greatly simplified tax system, the demos directly sets the overall federal tax rate (which determines the size of the federal government over time) and the distribution of the tax burden on corporations and businesses, personal incomes, and inheritances. The demos also sets the number of hours in the workweek, the amount of the minimum wage, and the level of federal debt or savings. And the demos sets the portion of collected tax revenue that goes to four major areas of the government: the military, health care, other entitlements, and all other government functions. The representative branches complete the details of the annual budget within the broad strokes set by the demos.

OUR CURRENT ELECTORAL SYSTEM OVERWHELMINGLY FAVORS THE WEALTHY
Residing at the very heart of our nation’s injustice and illness, our current electoral system is a set of loaded dice that overwhelmingly favors the powerful, wealthy few in two principal ways.

First, elections are left to a marketplace, mass media, and two political parties that are mostly owned and operated by the wealthy. Most of us are resigned to rapidly selecting what we guess might be “the lesser of evils” from among a few poorly known, fork-tongued candidates financed and, therefore, pre-selected by the wealthy. Few run for and win office that do not have the blessings and support of and now owe Big Money big-time.

Second, dividing states into electoral districts and electing only one senator or representative within each of them virtually guarantees that wealthy or wealth-serving candidates will win almost all elections, insuring the wealthy a permanent overwhelming hegemony of power in our government. When only one candidate can be elected in a district, a candidate with lots of money to spend will usually successfully buy the electoral office or seat being contested. While the wealthy inevitably manage to buy the first seat in a district, others—the lower middle class, the working poor, and minorities—could elect their champions to other seats in the district. Oops! There are no other seats in the district.

The principal result of our current electoral system is that America has the best government that money can buy.

The demos electoral system completely eliminates these and other problems making the electoral process honest and fair.

THE DEMOS ELECTORAL SYSTEM
In the demos electoral system, the electorate elects the president, all senators, and all representatives by direct popular vote. The Electoral College (which currently elects the president) and all state electoral districts are eliminated. The president and all senators are elected from the nation at-large and representatives from states at-large.

As with voting on the demos economic issues, the demos electoral process is not periodic but ongoing. Each member of the electorate keeps a vote “riding” on one candidate for president, one for a senator, and one for a representative that he or she may change at any time.

The demos electoral system has a single national presidential candidates list and a single national senatorial candidates list. Each state has its own single representatives candidates list. Any number of people may run for office. The person currently receiving the most votes in the presidential candidates list, the top 100 people in the senators candidates list, and each state’s quota of representatives from its representatives candidates list are currently seated in office.

A person gains or loses office when he or she gains or loses a sufficient number of votes relative to other candidates in the office’s candidates list. An officeholder is guaranteed to remain in office for the first half of his or her term but continues in the second half only so long as he or she enjoys the continued support of the electorate.

HONEST ELECTIONS
Candidates, who need not be wealthy or wealth supported, have unlimited time to run for office for free in the demos and build a following. Members of the electorate may take any amount of time to study and deliberate about candidates and to reach out to each other across states or the entire nation to directly elect not the lesser of evils preselected by the wealthy but their champions, truly representative officeholders that resemble them in body, mind, interests, and pocketbook.

The free, ongoing, at-large demos electoral process frees the election of officeholders from the constraints of place and time and levels the playing field among all candidates and members of the electorate. Most importantly, for the simple reason that all people will be able to do so, this means that poor and minority people will finally be able to reach out to each other across states and the nation to elect officeholders that really resemble and represent them.

CONGRESS RESEMBLES AND REPRESENTS THE ENTIRE ELECTORATE
The demos electoral system results in a senate and a house that automatically demographically resemble the entire electorate simply because anyone can run for office for free and people get to vote for whom they really want. No quota systems, complex electoral schemes, or political parties are required. Now truly resembling and representing the entire electorate, the senate and the house make laws and rules that serve the entire electorate.

In Beyond two proposals are made that change the way committee members, etc. are selected and rules regarding the legislative process are created within the senate and the house. These changes overcome the “old-boys’ clubs” that currently dominate congress, creating a more level playing field and significantly democratizing the legislative process.

LAWS REGARDING COMPLEX SOCIAL ISSUES
The demos directly makes law only when voting on its nine economic issues. All other laws and rules are made within the representative branches. Those opting to participate in demos deliberations may voice pro and con arguments on any issues. And they may vote on favored arguments of others, raising them to greater visibility in the demos, thus making everyone fully aware of the electorate’s, often conflicting, true thoughts on a host of issues.

But laws regarding complex social issues are best created not by majority-rule popular voting on an unending stream of often deviously crafted referendums pushed by hidden moneyed interests but by legislative bodies whose members are selected in demos-style elections. The bodies demographically resemble and serve the entire electorate, and their members can gain or lose the support of the electorate. As a result of demos deliberations legislators are informed as to the true and varied thoughts of the members of the electorate on issues. Thus, as legislators debate, give, take, trade, and compromise on issues, all competing interests and ideas are wisely considered, balanced, and coherently fitted to new and existing legislation and law.

CONSENSUS GOVERNMENT
The electorate practices consensus democracy in the demos to achieve economic consensus on some of our nation’s most important issues. It achieves what may be called electoral consensus by electing a congress that demographically resembles the entire electorate. And congress creates laws and rules that truly serve the entire electorate, which may be taken to be the legislative consensus of the electorate. Founded upon the principle of including and achieving the consensus of the entire electorate, I call this form of government consensus government.

IMPOSSIBLE?
Impossible? The electorate cannot possibly handle such important economic issues? It’s not only possible but desirable. Read Beyond Plutocracy - True Democracy for America and become convinced. It has earned high praise from readers. It is available free at www.beyondplutocracy.com. Are you busy? Just read its introduction.

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