A Meritocratic System of Delegation

It is important to remember that, here in America, we already have a system of putting candidates forward to stand for election.  This system has arisen according to no specific plan. It is amorphous, it is complex, and to no small degree, it is shadowy. One might even say it is ‘undemocratic.’ 

The Machinery of Churning Out Candidates

Since candidate selection goes on, largely, among a small group of political elites, and since there is no daylight, to speak of, illuminating the process, the average voter has the sense that it just ‘happens,’ in some way, naturally.  They live in ignorance of the great Moloch, the monstrous political machine that devours candidates and spits them out on a regular basis.  

A Simpler System that will Seem More Complicated

So, when we propose a system that is actually simpler than the one that exists, and which favors the kind of decent, hard-working, level-headed people we all want as representatives, our proposal, ironically, seems shockingly complicated and not really worth the effort. 

But this is not the reality.  Perhaps you can remember a time when you had to take control of something that had been done for you, perhaps even for a long period of time.  And, when you finally took it over to do it yourself, you almost certainly found that there was a lot more to it than you had previously thought.  

That is the situation we are in now.  We are taking control of the process by which individuals become candidates and candidates become representatives.  We–that is, we the people–are not accustomed to having any control over that process.  Some of us have, perhaps, never contemplated doing so, never thought there was even a need to do so.  

Poor Representation: The Cause of Many Social Evils

But there is a need–a very pressing need.  Poor representation will always, eventually, result in civil unrest, and will drive voters to embrace demagogues who offer up simplistic, undemocratic solutions to the problems we face as a society.  

Connected Representation and Connected Legislation

The Democracy Straight-Up Project aims to implement two, intimately related, systems within our democracy to enhance the quality of representation and fully-articulate the will of the people.  These two systems are: a Meritocratic System of Delegation and a nationwide system of Direct Legislatures.  We call this Connected Representation and Connected Legislation, and we use that to give the project a spiffy name, The CRCL Initiative.   

A Merit-based System of Advancement

We all know, instinctively, what we mean by merit.  For instance, say I need a building contractor to build a deck around my swimming pool (lucky me, I have a swimming pool! For the sake of argument…).  The contractor does a great job. They are on time, they work swiftly but safely, they stay on budget and they give me a beautiful deck.  So, I know what to say when a friend comes to me and says, “Hey, I’m thinking of converting my basement into a den, do you know any good contractors?” Compare that to a contractor who I have only ever seen advertising on television, through bus-stop ads, etc. Can I really recommend them?  They seem alright, based on the advertising.  There are testimonials which seem legit. But who knows? It’s still a crap shoot.  

The problem with our political system is that we are always stuck with the latter type of contractor, and we never get the one we know personally, who has proven to us that they have the goods.  

However, politicians are not contractors. Constituents are not customers.  There are always going to be too many constituents to support a system where every one of them has to know a national representative personally, and, as with the contractor, has real world experience in regards to how well they do their job.  

But we can have the next best thing.  

Bringing Reality Closer to the Ideal

Our Meritocratic System of Delegation starts in the same sensible way as a recommendation for a good contractor.  It starts with a small group of people recommending someone based on their own personal experience.  In our scheme, we call that group a ‘Circle.’  And we call the person that they put forward to represent them a First Delegate.  

Now, we call them a ‘First Delegate’ because we will need a Second Delegate.  What we are shooting for is a new type of legislature: one that represents our US House District, and votes directly on federal legislation.  The number of First Delegates will be only about one tenth of the number of eligible voters in our district, but district wide, that still means tens of thousands of people.  If we are creating a legislature, at some point, the membership all needs to fit into the same building–at least, that would be nice! 

Since we can’t all be in the same place at the same time (in any given district, eligible voters might number 400 or even 500,000) we are going to have to settle on a system that links us as directly as possible to whoever is representing us in the chamber. And, luckily, it only takes two such links for every participating voter in the district to gain entry:  a First Delegate Link, and a Second Delegate Link.  

The process starts with that small group we mentioned called a ‘Circle,’ which elects a First Delegates–the reliable contractor in our analogy.  Then the First Delegates form groups–we’ll go ahead and call those groups ‘Links’ in honor of their function.  A First Delegate Link meets and puts forward a delegate from among their number.  And we call that representative a Second Delegate, and we are almost there.  They form Second Delegate Links, put forward a member, and, tada!  We have a District Assembly, a few hundred delegates that represent the whole district as directly as humanly possible.  

Job well-done.

Connected Legislation (a type of direct legislation…)

Now, don’t lose track of the other prong in our two-pronged approach.  We said that this meritocratic system of delegates must coexist with Direct Legislation.  So, at no point is this District Assembly casting votes on legislation on your behalf, but beyond your power and control.  Each ‘Circle voter,’ if we can call them that, always has the right to cast a binding vote, yea, nay, or present, on any bill that comes before the US House of Representatives.  And as the voters vote, so will the House Rep cast their vote on the floor of The House.  

Learn to Love the Proxy…

What this system does is provide voters a way to select a representative that they trust to cast votes on their behalf, but only at such times as the voter deems fit.  We call this, “The Revocable Proxy.”  Also, this system of delegation provides an efficient mechanism for articulating the ‘will of the people.’  Through the ‘Links,’ the will of the people can flow forward, and delegates can respond back.  The voters can make their specific demands and needs known, and the system of delegation can respond.  

The District Assembly, and the Council of Co-Reps.  

For completeness, we should mention that this District Assembly is actually a collection of ten groups. Each group, which we call a Caucus, represents one tenth of the district.  Each Caucus puts forward someone to represent them, and this person we call a Co-Representative, and refer to them collectively as the Council of Co-Reps. This is to emphasize the idea that each of them works closely with the House Rep, who functions as a leader among peers. 

This is something called “Proportional Representation,” that silver bullet that will kill gerrymandering and ensure that legislation actually enacts the will of the people.  This is simply a matter of The House passing a resolution that gives each member 10 votes, instead of one, to be divided up as they see fit.  

And the cherry on top: The House Rep will be the culmination of this process of meritocratically putting forward delegates. They will be a member of the direct legislature whose dedication and hard work have put them in good stead with the voters.  They will not need to campaign. They don’t need to belong to a political party. They won’t have to have raised a dime from donors.  They will have gotten there by earning their place at the head of the legislature.  

This ideal state of affairs, which many have longed for since the start of our republic, is practically attainable.  It’s just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other.  We have the technology to make it happen. We just need to form the Circles and start selecting delegates.  The DSUp Project provides a website where all of the functions of your direct legislature can be administered.  

Since we can’t all be in the same place at the same time, and we can’t all debate every issue in one central forum, we have to settle for the next closest thing.  Direct Legislation combined with Meritocratic Delegation is the next closest thing. And when you have gotten used to having your will transformed into action by the best of the best your district has to offer, you will no doubt think, “That wasn’t so hard after all. And it was definitely worth it!”