Accurate Democracy 
Projects.
FS Notes.
print. translate.
| Accurate Democracy |
Legislative Systems.
Projects.
FS Notes.
print. translate. |
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Fair Share Notes |
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What is a Public Good?"As a private individual, I want a car that goes 130 miles per hour. As a citizen, I want a speed limit for lower pollution and safer streets." Ben Barber, Rutgers UniversityPollution and danger are public bads or "negative externalities", consequences of Ben's car for which he does not pay the full cost. The general public pays the driver's externalized costs through their taxes and impaired health. Therefore, what the public wants as individual car buyers may be different from what the same public wants as voters. The value a person places on public goods depends on his sensitivity to the pleasures of tangibles such as clean, safe streets and intangibles such as co-operative, friendly neighbors. It also depends on his private resources, such as a private car to serve in place of an efficient public transit system.
Fair Shares Balance and Limit Group Power.Fair-share funding works with discretionary funds spent on projects. Many winning proposals get contributions from less than half the voters, showing that we are all, at times, members of minorities. The power of the majority is limited.Being a boss often lets a smart person act stupid: the boss can cut short an argument and win it just by threatening or ignoring an adversary. Being in the majority often leads a group to act stupidly for much the same reason: they can win without good reasons and thoughtful persuasion. Fair-share spending removes some of the cause of majority stupidity: they can no longer seize more than their share; they have to act smart or hurt themselves. There is no division into winners and losers, everyone gets something. And everyone gets their due. Naturally there will still be some bad decisions due to misinformed or muddled thinking. And the consequences will fall mostly on those who are not thinking ahead.
Strategic VotingThe most obvious way to defeat fair-share voting on projects is to break the discretionary fund into small blocks: $1T for military projects, $1B for health projects, $1M for school projects. To avoid such forgone bias, the voters can make every division; each voter then spends as much on school projects as he or she put in to that category.
Use Suitable ToolsWhen choosing a policy we can say "Yes." to only one version. When budgeting departments we often say to each group, "Yes; but you will get less than you requested." When funding projects we must say "Yes!" to several and "No." to others, often letting each voter affect each budget. Each kind of legislation needs a different kind of voting tool.
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Accurate Democracy 
