In Democracy, Lawyers are over represented. Logically they are likely to
maintain their profession and status quo. This can lead to a spiral of inadequate reform -
arcane procedures - jargon riddled law. This in turn may lead to an unresponsive
government and growing dissatisfaction from the population.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997 The >50%
rule means that large parties seek the smallest possible parties to form majority
coalition governments with. This can lead to disproportionate influence for small
minorities and slant legislation towards extremes.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The existence and application of the >50% rule ensures that policy makers do not
need to produce legislation that answers the legitimate concerns of the minority.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Issues are not addressed by democratic governments until a critical mass of popular
support exists that could cause people to change their vote at the next election.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The >50% target required in democracies to be elected or to pass legislation is
arbitrary, and may be too low to ensure constructive creative environment.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The existence and application of the >50% rule ensures that large proportions of the
electorate (sometimes >50% depending on the system) voted against those in control of
the government.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Success for democratic governments is not determined by real achievement but rather by
perception of achievement within the electorate.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The priorities of democratic governments are set by popularity and opinion polls rather
than real importance.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Large proportions of the electorate (sometimes >50%) have no say in the executive
government because their representatives are in the opposition.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The government has the power to legislate over areas that have no direct input into the
election of the government. (eg. children, mentally disabled, environment)
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Many areas of importance require the activism of supporters to influence the government
because they have little or no direct influence. (eg. poor, disabled, environment)
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*Party politics leads to a lot of motherhood statements and very few real
positions on issues because a party that can be tied to one position is more easily
attacked.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The government/opposition model of democracy ensures that executive government
positions (ministries etc.) are held by members of the majority party/coalition regardless
of the relative merits of the members of the opposition.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Party Politics leads to the election of party hacks with little ability because the
quality of the candidate matters little so long as they represent the right party.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Where representative are elected from regional electorates, large proportions of each
electorate are not represented in parliament by the person they would choose. This can be
greater than 50% in many cases.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Where representatives are elected from regional electorates, small swings can lead to
disproportionately large numbers of seats changing hands.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*Political Parties target swinging voters in marginal seats because it is these
people who decide the outcome of elections.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
A candidate must usually be supported by a party to effectively stand for election.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*Two-party political systems tend to bring the policies of each party closer
together. Both sides attempt to capture the swinging voters in the middle. As a
consequence both parties end up having very similar policies in many areas. Without choice
in policy voters are compelled to vote on image or personality.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*Political parties aim to be elected not on their strengths, but on the
weaknesses of the opposition. This elevates criticism to a higher quality than creative
leadership or vision.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Two-party political systems cannot hope to represent the broad spectrum of beliefs held
by the electorate.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Political parties try not to stand for anything specific so as not to alienate
potential voters.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Party politics tends to polarise arguments.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The policies of a political party are often the product of expediency and polling.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Candidates with excellent credentials will rarely be elected without large financial
backing.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
A candidate must have considerable financial backing to effectively stand for election.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
A candidate may become beholden to their financial or political backers rather than
their electoral supporters.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Political reporting is biased by the opinions of media reporters, commentators,
editors, and proprietors, yet it is the media that the public relies on for unbiased
information.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Candidates who hold opinions that conflict with those held by people in control of the
media often get negative reporting, or worse, ignored by the media.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*Candidates rely on the mass media as a major vehicle to expose their policies
to the electorate, yet the media relies on sensationalism, sound bites, and hype to stay
in business.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Obscure candidates can gain exposure and get elected by adopting controversial
positions that the media feeds off.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Democratic politicians will be tempted to take credit for good outcomes despite having
had no causal responsibility for them. But therefore they will be blamed for bad outcomes
they cannot control (because the 2 sets of outcomes are indistinguishable from the
stand-point of responsibility). To palliate the blame while retaining the credit, they
will over-legislate the domains they cannot control.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Candidates are rarely elected without favourable press or exposure through the mass
media.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The wealthy may be able to exert greater influence over politicians than the general
population through political donations.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The need for political donations can create a political debt to contributors.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The need for increasingly large campaign budgets leads to a focus on fundraising rather
than policy generation.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Contributors of political donations may be able to exert undue influence upon elected
officials.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Success at elections is often determined by the size of campaign budgets, rather than
policy.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*The quality of any society, and its potential for positive evolution, is very
dependent on the quality of its values. Democracy ensures that individuals are free to
choose their own values, but does not provide any wisdom to help inform these choices.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
*"Politicians see themselves not as navigating the boat of society but as
surviving the storms that arise from time to time."
Between incidents requiring crisis management there is a general drift determined by
various factors (changes in attitude, pressure groups, public opinion shaped by the media
etc). This pattern of crisis management and drift (which is in fact a preferred management
style in most political systems) is a very slow and wasteful way to elicit change. There
is no specific design of a way forward, and little strategic thinking to pre-empt
potential crises. The stance is reactive rather than pro-active.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
The public relies on the media to police their elected representatives (as they
famously did in the USA with Watergate). However, the media are not elected by the people
to perform this role, and although it is well known that corruption occurs within politics
the public are expected to trust the politicians to keep their own house in order.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997
Corporate leaders can easily be replaced if they perform beneath expectations. By
contrast, top politicians can be complacent in the knowledge that once elected their job
is safe, irrespective of their level of performance and competency, provided they do not
make a mistake serious enough to jeopardize the stability of their party.
İThe Author, İEdward de Bono Creative Team 1997 |
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