NationStates Jolt Archive

Hello, people.

This is an age-old debate and idea that I thought I would bring to the attention of those who might be interested, partially because it's an interesting idea but mostly because I'm new here and want to make a little noise. (Hey, at least I'm trying to be honest).

Any goverment can make any desicion at any time... The people can argue against their goverment, other countries can criticize, or even attack for that desicion. But what motivates that desicion? I'm going to simplify that into three basic catagories:

What is best for the people
What the people want
What is best for the goverment

To what extent should a goverment trust it's people with all the information? and with the power of desicion making? Some people may answer that the people should have total and absaloute control, and should always know everything that the goverment does. This way the people know what's best for the people, and presumably that's what they would choose to do.

However this view, I think, is naieve. Not everyone has the abillity to comprehend, let alone remember all the factors and all the information, and certainly not everybody has the selfless spirit requred to make the desicion that's right for everybody, or the greater good.

The alternative is to trust our goverments with everything, knowledge and desicions. But is that any better? "Power curropts" the old wise men say, and they're not often wrong. If we place that much power with a single individual or goup of people how can we be sure they wont betray the people they are supposed to represent and protect? That's saying nothing of putting a huge strain and pressure on a comparativly small group of people.

A balance, then? a middle path? We let the people know the facts but then the goverment makes the desicion? The more information you give people the more they're going to ram their opinions down your throats. The more they do that the less time the goverment has to actually govern... Not only that, who decides where the right balance GOES? the people? or the goverment? Can either be trusted to make the right desicion? or even a selfless desicion?

In a world that seems to have lost all black and white, leaving only a tarnished and uncared for gray behind. What are the right desicions? and who do we, who CAN we trust... to make the desicions... The right desicions?

Respectfully,
Ven

Since i support and belive in the democratic ideals i fully support that the people should know everything and then decide democratically. Everything else is imo elitist

In ideal situations I agree, and I can understand that you feel it's elitest but I still think that a practical solution can not mean that every individual is consulted on every desicion a goverment must make.

If nothing else infiltration of that goverment (spying) becomes so easy even I could do it. Unless you intend to pass a law that prevents your people from having contact with the outside world.

Respectfully,
Ven

i kinda think that it would be nice to let the people know, but it would not work because:
- voting takes too long in certain situations (eg National Security gets bomb warning)
- What kind of a marjority do you need? (if you need say 2/3, then you might never do either)
- people dont generally know as well as the government what to do. (i mean, thats what they've been doing for a lifetime - they oughta be good)
- Without real leadership (no head but a body that enforces stuff) people might panic, or do entirely the wrong thing.
Granted, there is a lot of stuffwrong with just government as well. but if the country is a galley, all the rowers need to know is that their helmsman is a good one. (but yeah, i know the counter-arguments, right now i'm just arguing for this though)

Agreed, sometimes voting takes too long. In that case a people elected council should decide on what to do. However i still feel that no information should be kept from the public. The government could make the spilt second decisions, but should tell the public openly afterwards what happended.

Hello, people.
What is best for the people
What the people want
What is best for the goverment

How about: What is morally right

With only your three reasons, why should a government help foregin nations struck by some disaster? Or not use the situation to occupy the foreign nation?

To your question. The reason we have a government is to have a set of leaders whos job it is to make decisions for us. If the whole people should be involved every time a decision should be made, that would be a waste of resorces, from organising everything, from people spending time on all the petty problems and from propaganda trying to convince people of the best vote.. It would make it much more difficult to act in difficult situations, you would have much more decissions based on emotions (a person is smart, people are stupid), and pwople would get tired of everything and there would be more apathy.

Idealistic sollutions never work in the real world. Communism fails, anarchy fails. A full/ideal democracy will fail. A pragmatic democratic system is far from perfect, but it still works better than any other system in the world we have today.