In theory anyone can become a politician, and the trouble
is that in practice anybody does. Whereas entry to other professions usually necessitates
a period of training and examination/assessment, there is no such requirement for anyone
taking on the job of governing a country.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Dependence on the adversarial system means that politicians use their thinking energy
to show why their opponent is wrong. There is no natural mechanism for creative,
constructive, design energies, and no room for it. In fact creativity can be stultified by
a climate of fear, since any new ideas will be vulnerable to attack from the opposition
even if they see value in them.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*A relatively recent problem for Democracy (especially representative Democracy)
is technology. Instant polling can create the illusion of a majority opinion. This is
especially dangerous when only a minority has been polled. Elected representatives are
forced into a difficult decision at these times: become subject to the whims of the masses
or make a choice based on other criteria. Obviously the interference of technology with
Democracy is not limited to polls. With the speed of communications increasing, media has
become less trustworthy. Rumors become truth, lies become facts. It's very easy for a
popular rumor on the Internet to become headline news (of course other forms of rapid
communication have been demonstrating this for year it is just a little more accessible to
extremists now).There are many other aspects of current and future technology that are
dangers to Democracy. For example, it's becoming easier to make your own compromising
pictures of political figures. These technologies and others have been creeping up on all
forms of government for awhile. Since technology won't go away (and who'd want it to,
eh?), how is it possible to integrate it as an ally to government?
One other problem with Democracy is the reliance on people who prove again and again that
they're willing to make decisions based on catchy jingles and nifty slogans. I recall a
local election several years ago. Neither candidate advertised much, but he had a name
that was the same as a very famous (household word) actress. She won by a landslide, even
though they stood on very similar platforms. One has to wonder.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Most of the political party's , and certainly those who have the most influence in a
democratic'system, don't have a democratic system in their own party. Most of the party's
are lead with a very strong hand at the top. Most of the time a very strong party line
must be held when decisions or laws must be voted.
The fault in these systems is that a very small group will decided on very important
issues, even in over the party borders those people will make deals. A very small group
makes the decisions.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*Democracy is based on argument and attack.
When this is pointed out as an obvious fault, the initiator is attacked. Perhaps it is
more convenient to go on believing that the concept is wonderfully perfect than to take a
look in the mirror someone puts in front of your face.
There is a strong negative loop that forms the baseline. Moving upwards from the circular
pattern is difficult.
The idea that a better and different system might be designed must be attacked, as seeing
the potential benefits of changing concepts is not probable or even possible with the
built-in logic inside (traditional thinking).
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The ideological and intellectual development of the civil majority is hindered by the
ingratiatory and diversionary need to reinforce their existing ideologies and intellectual
standards.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*Where the citizen's responsibility for government is reduced to a single,
infrequent act of voting for a representative, Democracy can lead to apathy. The
'successful' democracy (eg the USA) is the one where the majority are so unconcerned about
how they are governed they don't even turn out to vote at elections.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Democracy deepens the differences between political camps, cultures and sects by
pitting two candidates against each other in each election. Even after the election, the
differences exist and the losing group simply resolves to win next time.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*Idea-sharing between candidates is considered bad! If the winner of the
campaign selects the best ideas from the losing candidates, the other candidates complain
that they had ownership of the ideas and therefore the winner loses credibility (in
theory)
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
In order to fund a campaign, it is often necessary to organize candidates into groups,
or political parties. This requires candidates who do not have enough funds themselves to
choose between parties which may encompass some of their own ideals but not represent
others.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Decisions of an elected official while in office are usually made with the upcoming
election in mind. This forces the official to make decisions that will produce short-term
results instead of building a country on long-term wisdom. Problems must become bad enough
that measurable changes can be made within an elected term before any official is
interested in addressing them.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*The fact that someone wins and someone loses in elections means that there will
be opposition to the winner. The idea of an opposition while government is in power was
meant as a balance to prevent the governing person or group from getting carried away with
their own plans. Instead, the opposition feels compelled to oppose every idea that comes
from government, including the good ones. A government's idea can be 90% good, but the
opposition must point out the 10% bad instead of expounding on the 90%.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Since the point of campaigning for office is to win, it is easy for a candidate to
promise they can "take over" some of the hard parts of normal life for the
country's citizens. Often, these are areas where government cannot do anything worthwhile.
For instance, North American governments have volunteered to get involved in
"helping" families to make things better, when, realistically the government has
nothing to offer except promises in these areas.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
People tend to vote for candidates based on their agreement on current issues, rather
than that candidate's ability to govern and make quality decisions. One reason for voting
for a candidate is for that person to represent each voter effectively. The relavence of
views on current issues is not an effective barometer of a candidate's goodness, rather
the judgment for the vote should be on the candidate's ability to research issues as they
arise and to act on them practically. This is a hard thing to gauge about a candidate
without knowing a lot about them.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Debates as a tool of the democratic process are flawed. The skill of debating is almost
diametrically opposed to the skill of good leadership. Strong debaters can effectively
criticize other's ideas while strong leaders take the best ideas from everyone and use
them to work towards a common vision.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The democratic process in large countries is often based on electing people whom we
don' personally know. It is much easier to make a judgment about whether a person should
be elected to office if the voter has known them personally for some time. In elections
the size of the Canadian parliamentary elections or the United States general elections it
is impossible to personally know any of the candidates at a level to understand their
capability to lead.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Democracy, although intended to be a system by which the people govern, is highly
influenced by the rich and powerful. This leads to corruption of the people chosen
delegates and the creation of false promise and hope. In effect, it is the rich and
powerful who rule, whilst the people elected officials become puppets of the
"money" game. Democracy is a catalyst for the "Golden Rule" - those
with the gold, rule.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*The rules of the democratic game, as we know it, are multi-party politics and
majority rule. These very rules are a hindrance for a "true" democracy. They
foster adversarial thinking and adhering to positions, at the expense of joint solution
finding.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Democratic thinking and action, in its essence, should be a direct expression of the
will of all the people in a given entity, such as in a company, in a state, or in a nation
. The democracies, as we know them, are not based on expressed consensus and general
agreement. They are based on the agreement, an act of civility, to accept the expressed
will of the majority.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Pre-election commitments are often made with absolutely no intention of ever keeping
them.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Many of the popular promises that politicians make prior to elections would be
disastrous if ever implemented.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Government policy can be heavily influenced by the unelected bureaucracy that is
unaffected by electoral change.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Elections are decided by the issues that divide the electorate rather than those that
unite the electorate. Therefore common long term issues are rarely addressed by political
parties.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Voters vote on the basis of self interest even if they hold a position of relatively
inflated importance. (eg. swinging voters in marginal electorates)
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Elections are set up as a winner takes all proposition. This means that parties with
small differences in support (51%/49%) can have large differences in power.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Electioneering encourages short term thinking in the electorate.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Because large political parties will rarely cooperate, even when they have similar
policies, small parties or independents can have disproportionate influence when they hold
the balance of power.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Political Parties see elections as a competition where you win or lose.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
In party political systems each party sees the others as enemies. This often makes it
impossible for larger parties to work together even when they share many common policies.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Political parties are rewarded by the electorate for attacking each other rather than
working cooperatively.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
In Democracy the major idiom is one of combat and argument. This leads to an inordinate
amount of time spent focusing on the fight and debate, rather then exploration of the
subject. As a consequence opportunities may be missed. Just as two dogs fighting on a road
may fail to notice the bone on the sidewalk or indeed the oncoming traffic.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
A democracy is the majority that elect a few who represent everybody but they are only
influenced by a minority of the majority.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997 |
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