How to vote for better politicians

Peter Kopa, Prague 25.5.2022

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHfsk8iL_C0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUee1I69nFs

The plague of political opportunism

In the question how to vote for better politicians, the citizen has a serious moral obligation to monitor the governance of those in power, which is guaranteed by the constitutions through the right of petition. This is guaranteed by constitutions through the right of petition. Wouldn’t it make sense for political leaders to assume personal responsibility for their governance (‘political accountability’)? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUee1I69nFs

This would help to curb the abuses of democracy that are being suffered today in so many countries, including the USA and Europe. In the first place, part of the blame lies with the citizens, insofar as they themselves do not live according to the dictates of their conscience. If this conscience was not well formed in one’s own family, man can hardly have the sensitivity to concern himself with such matters. Such citizens are more likely to be overly seduced by the satisfactions that consumption and relatively easy living allow, thanks to high economic productivity, based on ever more advanced technologies.

Then there is the fault of the elected ruler, who so often does not have the moral profile required for his office.  An honest, well-considered person is not enough, because in the exercise of political leadership the elected person is going to encounter a very seductive power, which demands not only decency and honesty, but also a profound decision to remain morally unimpeachable.

I ask the reader: How to find such people, which requires a previous knowledge even of the particular life of the individuals who aspire to reach the political leadership? For example, in the USA, a candidate for president has no chance of being elected if he does not run at least with his wife and children. A ruler who cheats on his wife, or who leads an immoral life in other ways, will also end up betraying his people through corruption and other forms of treason against the citizens. ¿Por qué el perfil bajo de los políticos?

The need of a high moral and professional profile

As far as the professional competence of the ruler is concerned, should he not be prepared in the same way as an architect, a physician, etc.? It is interesting to consider that, in all countries, the Law regulates those professions whose exercise exposes the citizen to risk, requiring higher studies and an officially defined technical preparation, which will then allow the practice of Medicine, Architecture, Law, etc. In addition, the citizen requesting such professional services also relies on the recommendation of a trusted third party.

However, access to the political function requires only to be elected.  Here no previous study or preparation is required, due to the dogmatic principle that every citizen has the ‘sacrosanct’ active and passive political right: that is, the right to vote and be voted for. And this situation becomes even more complicated when not individuals but parties are elected, which may well be dens of all kinds of manipulation by elements that should never have come to power. Winston Churchill once said that the best thing to do is to elect rich political leaders, because they would be less inclined to steal from citizens and would take more care of their honor.

How to promote good rulers?

The absurd dogma that every citizen has all active and passive political rights has been coined by the enlightened rationalist thought of Locke, Monsquieu and others, then vindicated in revolutions and finally imposed on public opinion as a kind of truth of religious faith. Is it not that this juridical concept of equality, without preconditions of due preparation, is based on the rationalist Volterian prejudice that every man is good by nature and only bad influences can degenerate him?

If it would have been always assumed that every man is also inclined to evil, it would probably have been possible to avoid a great many catastrophes.

One way to solve this enormous problem could be a constitutional principle that requires a specific preparation as a necessary condition for access to high government positions. In this way, institutions could be created to qualify the candidate in the moral and professional aspect. France, for example, has its School of Public Administration in this sense. Other leading countries train their political cadres in certain universities, just as multinational companies in USA prefer those who have studied at Harvard.  Other forms of preparation and knowledge of the person are the records of his political career.

At the same time, there should never be a lack of laws that prevent corruption and waste as much as possible, and a public administration that favors digital technology to rationalize, control and streamline its management. Above all, it is important to have a good anti-corruption law, without any compromise that would mean leaving the door open to manipulation, for example, in the awarding of public works.

Citizen oversight initiatives

The question how to vote for better politicias means: what can citizens do on their part to improve the management of political government. I suggest a few practical ideas to the reader:

1.Read the Constitution, to become aware of your rights to petition the public official.

2. Form an association or group to formulate petitions or complaints to the government. The internet allows you to create a blog or a web page from which you can motivate and move thousands and millions, as can be seen in the USA and other countries. It would be desirable that these action groups stand above party political factions, with the advantage of being able to reach more citizens. The strategy would be to digitally implement the ‘management’ of citizen discontent, in the form of notes signed on the Internet, or printed and sent to the government.

Do we not hear so many justified complaints from so many friends and acquaintances that have no effect because they do not reach the attention of political dignitaries? The experience of the Tea Party in the USA, for example, indicates that a fraction of the electorate is listened to and taken seriously. At the same time, this effort facilitates the political education of the citizen.

3.Therefore, we must be convinced that it is not enough to go to the polls every four or five years, but that it is essential to monitor the government’s management, which will take the form of what has been said above or of many other initiatives that may occur to us in our specific political situation, without excluding public demonstrations in the street and the right to referendum.