Imagine that Election Day was the day voters chose a President for a day. Instead of voting for presidential candidates, each voter would nominate a citizen from their own Congressional District. The most-nominated citizens would serve as Electors and gather that Monday in December to discuss who they believe would make a good—or great—President.
The goal is to reward judgment rather than celebrity. Instead of asking millions of voters to choose among candidates they know mostly through advertising and media campaigns, each community first identifies the citizens it trusts most. Those trusted citizens then have the responsibility of deliberating together about who has the wisdom, integrity, and competence to serve as President.
We might end up with one of those highly-trusted citizens being selected as our next President.
If voters are going to nominate Electors, we could put a chalk board at each polling place, and let people write the name of the person they prefer, along with casting their official ballot.
If we come early, we might have an opportunity to influence others, by writing the name of our preferred choice.
If we come later, we will have the advantage of seeing a list of respected citizens that could help shape our choice. Maybe the names would have tally marks next to them. We could add a name if we know of someone who we think should be added to that list, or we could 'caucus' with a group that has identified someone already by adding another tally mark to a name already on the list.
Anyone can be nominated. No campaign organization or political party is required. A person becomes an Elector because neighbors believe they, above all others in the community, are good and honest judges of character and ability.
The qualities that make someone a good judge of leadership--wisdom, integrity, sound judgment, and the ability to recognize competence--are also among the most important qualities we seek in a President.
The central idea is simple: The process of choosing a President starts with each community first identifying the people whose judgment it trusts. The hope is that a nation guided by its most trusted citizens would make wiser presidential choices than one guided primarily by campaign advertising, fundraising, and partisan competition.
Our current system asks millions of citizens to answer a question that is extraordinarily difficult: "Who should be President?" This proposal asks an easier question first: "Whose judgment do you trust?" By answering the easier question first, the nation may arrive at a better answer to the harder one.
No comments:
Post a Comment