A Proposal for Constitutional Reform in British
Columbia
The Problem
1. It costs a lot of money
to be elected to public office. The cost of an election
campaign is roughly proportional to the power wielded by the
successful candidate after the election. Except for a
very few, very wealthy individuals, no one can run for public
office without the support, financial and otherwise, of
others. The world being what it is, those who give such
support expect favours from their candidate if she or
he is elected. This system, which has operated in
Canada since Confederation, has produced a number of undesirable
consequences:
a. political patronage;
b. poor public policy
choices, because public policies driven by political patronage
rarely serve the interest of the citizens as a whole;
c. public cynicism and
distrust of government;
d. difficulty in attracting
honest and capable people to run for public office;
e. the creation of a class
of professional political managers, who earn their living by
trafficking in politics and patronage.
The Solution
2. Choose legislators at
random from the voter’s list.
a. Because no one will be
permitted to campaign for public office, no one will incur any
electoral expenses, or require any kind of support to be
elected. The legislators chosen by lot will owe no
political debts to anyone.
b. Because the legislators
will not be identified until the “election”
day, the professional political managers will be out of
business. There will be no one for them to manage, or
sell to the public.
c. The constitution should
provide that no one is eligible to serve more than one term of
office. This will spread the burden of public service
more fairly. Ineligibility for a second term will
reduce the incentive to attempt to curry favour with the
legislators. Put bluntly, why try to corrupt someone
who will be out of office (forever) in a year or two?
d. Random selection will
ensure (on average) appropriate representation from all sectors of
the community, without discrimination on the grounds of gender,
ethnicity or political (or other) orientation.
e. There is no reason to think that
legislators chosen by lot will be less able or diligent than those
now chosen by the electoral process.
3. The idea may seem
startling. It would certainly represent a departure
from modern notions of democracy. However, it is not
unprecedented. Athens is often referred to as the
cradle of western democracy. Athenian democracy went
through a number of constitutional changes over 500
years. However, for much of that time, Athens was
governed by legislators and judges chosen by lot from the Athenian
citizenry. It seemed to work well for them.
For a full discussion of the Athenian experience, refer to The
Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes by MH Hansen
(University of Oklahoma Press, 1999).
The Details
4. Establish a set of
criteria to qualify as an elector in British Columbia.
No doubt, those would be similar to the criteria which now govern
eligibility to vote in British Columbia elections.
Assign a 10-digit number to each elector. The first 3
digits would identify the constituency in which the elector
resides, and the latter 7 digits would identify the individual
elector. Random-number programs are in common use in
scientific research, and could be used to select the legislators
from among the electors.
5. If selected, service as
an elector would be mandatory, in the same way as jury
service. A process should be established to allow an
elector to apply to be excused from service on grounds of
hardship. In the case of jury service, such
applications are made to the BC Supreme Court. In order
to be as inclusive as possible, any Canadian citizen who filed a
British Columbia tax return or received social assistance in
British Columbia in the year preceding the
“election” should be on the list
automatically. Any other Canadian citizen who resides
in British Columbia should be able to apply to be on the list.
6. The term of office should
be relatively short - 1 or 2 years.
7. The legislators should be
required to attend in Victoria on a fixed day (say the first Monday
in May), and to choose an executive (a Premier and cabinet) from
among themselves. The business of the Legislature and
government could then proceed as it does now.
8. The salary should be
sufficient to avoid any risk of unfairness to the
legislators. The following might be an appropriate
formula. A legislator’s salary shall be
equal to his or her average taxable income over the 5 years
preceding her or his election, subject to two constraints:
a. No
legislator’s salary shall be less than the median
taxable income of British Columbia taxpayers in the year preceding
the legislator’s election.
b. No
legislator’s salary shall be more than double the
median taxable income of British Columbia taxpayers in the year
preceding the legislator’s election. The
legislators’ expenses of attending in Victoria during
legislative sessions (and conducting other legitimate public
business) should be paid on a generous scale.
A Plea of Urgency
9. No elected government
would ever present my proposal to the people. The
professional political managers will never allow a proposal to go
forward which, if accepted, would put them out of business.
10. However, as I understand it, the present
government has promised to put your recommendations to a
referendum, whatever your recommendations might be. For
that reason, your recommendations represent a unique
opportunity - it is probably the only
chance to put my suggestion to the people. I hope that
you will consider it.