Internet Party Democracy
Are we agreed that democracy is disfunctional nationally, in the Labour party, in the Green party ?
How then are we to contest a democratic election in NZ ?
First we have to rebuild democracy, The only way we can do that is by example.
Here is my suggested democratic structure for the Internet Party.
Decisions are taken by the unanimous consent of three bodies, each body has a different responsibility and considers only that responsibility in giving consent. No body is ascendant if they cant agree then they have to talk more until they do.
The Members who generate and mandate decisions thru a democratic process of dialogue, information, and voting
The Party Organisation Operational and Political who must be convinced they can carry forward decisions in an organised, timely, coordinated, and legal manner. This group is a meritocracy
The Party Vision group who must be convinced that the decision does not turn the vision on its head or commit to any unethical act
This group consists of the party visionary, the general secretary, and others as they propose that recieve consent of the other groups.
There it is. A bare bones structure that i think is plausible.
Please consider that this is not just "off the cuff" for me. If you cant see why something is here have a think about it then please ask.
Deleted User Sat 27 Sep 2014 8:29AM
@colindavies agreed. I think there is also a group of us who think this "thing" we're doing could evolve into a new kind of government that is less dependent or independent of corruptible power seeking politicians.
seann paurini Sat 27 Sep 2014 9:04AM
PS. Not opposed to ideology/political philosophy as a guide. That's useful in politics. A practical example of my concern is that some political parties and activist groups regularly prioritise or impose a 'standpoint' view in public in a way that can confuse, unnecessarily exclude and otherwise put potential supporters off. I think its that approach that can be detrimental, e.g. to an otherwise sound, solid policy direction, especially in shallow democracies like NZ. I see the potential in the Internet P as a promoter of stronger NZ democracy. PS. look at the LP, it fell apart last Saturday and its falling apart today!
Fred Look Sat 27 Sep 2014 10:44PM
wow try and get a simple definition of non-ideoligical online! .... it could mean "not holding to a fixed vision".....which has some interesting implications..... It might also mean that we act on the basis of information rather then from some theoretical basis and this view gives mandate to our information based policy formation. or both
Fred Look Sat 27 Sep 2014 10:52PM
I am glad that we are discussing those things that are outside of the democratic process we are here build and how they may or may not interact with that process first. I feel that the internal democracy we design eventually will be stronger for this
Stephen Bryson Sun 28 Sep 2014 1:07AM
Yes, from Merriam Webster:
Ideology: the set of ideas and beliefs of a group or political party.
It's hard to avoid. An ideology will invariably exist even it remains debatable as to just what it actually is.
Fred Look Sun 28 Sep 2014 2:05AM
my ideology is "no ideology"
Fred Look Sun 28 Sep 2014 2:10AM
I think the point is not do we have ideology but is that ideology the basis of our actions or do we rise above our ideology and consider facts
Colin England Sun 28 Sep 2014 2:43AM
Wouldn't it be better to base our ideology on the facts?
Facts like:
- climate change
- limited resources
- justice
- democracy
Fred Look Sun 28 Sep 2014 7:46PM
ok I think we have some insight to the vision
1 it exists and connects us to common purpose
2 its bloody hard to nail down and is to some extent individual.
3 it is not static
The key point of this being that it if we try to nail it down thru our democratic process we will damage it and the process. ....... There is another area that the process has a relationship too and that is the caucus. it would be good to discuss this a bit I think as it will have impact on the design of any internal democracy
Colin Davies · Sat 27 Sep 2014 7:48AM
@seannpaurini
I think everyone sits at different spots here ideologically in this party. So we're not really left or right. However I think all members have a social conscious, and want to see everyone in NZ benefit. However the thing that is cohesive to all appears to be a belief that I discussing and arguing points online we can knock out better policies than other parties have.