Is democracy good? (1 Viewer)

[fortyfortyforty]

Is everyone having the right to vote a good idea?

For a voter, the voting process is basically taking a mix of (at least) history, law, economics and science, connecting it all together and then applying it (or post a better definition).

If you think that you don't need to know anything about the topics that make up the political process to be allowed to vote, why?

If you do, then do you think it's a good idea to give people who don't know anything about those subjects the right to vote? Think of the % of people who actually have degrees in those subjects, or the % of people who have the mental ability to just pick those things up. What % of people in Australia/any country can actually take the facts relevant to politics, and come to well-rounded decisions about the correct long-term decisions for the country?

 

[funkshen]

 

[SylviaB]

 

[niloony]

Poor and seemingly silly policy outcomes is a downside to democracy. However its primary purpose is to make sure the public service is not an unobserved and reckless force unto itself and leadership within the public service is always focused on riskless purely operational outcomes. Of course this is not always the case but looking indefinitely into the future this seems to be the most efficent and sustainable system in achieving this outcome. Democracy turns a naturally corrupt and power hungry public service into a powerful yet risk adverse and sustainable one.

Of course with that risk removed from the system it all just piles into the private sector...but oh well.