So how do your politics work...

bonkey

OK,

I'm not sure if this thread is going to actually work at all, but here's the idea....

A lot of the posters on this forum have made it clear that they have vastly differing political ideals. I'd like to set any of them a challenge - describe how boards (or just the politics forum) should be run in accordance with your ideals.

Yes, I know that you can't compare a nation / planet / whatever to an internet bulletin board system, but it may be interesting.

For example, if you're a fan of democracy, then surely all positions (moderator, admin, whatever) should be elected positions? And lets not forget referenda, and all the rest of it.

On the other hand, if you're a supporter of the way RTS do things (judging by how they put their case last time here, so forgive me if I'm doing you a disservice), then no-one would actually be in charge, there'd be no positions of authority, and people would assist in various ways depending on what they felt like assisting with and what needed doing.

Bear one thing in mind.....you don't get to choose who "lives" in boards.ie in this exercise - you only get to say how it would be run. So if your system was democratic in nature, consider how you'd deal with apathy, low voter turnout, or cliques.

This may be a lot of work for anyone to actually formulate a comprehensive plan, so I'm not necessarily asking that people stand up and work out a fully comprehensive plan, but I would expect that if asked how they would deal with a (not-too-specific) plausible situation, that they would be able to supply a plausible answer (or admit to there being a failing).

This isn't about showing your system is better. Its not about showing your system is worse. Its a bit more about seeing whether or not you have really considered the reality of how your chosen system works / would work.

Normally, I'd expect me to step up to the plate first, being the thread starter and all. However, having just come up with this idea while eating my BBQ this evening, I need time to consider how I'd actually do things....and how to formalise into a political system what I actually believe in (!). I'll hopefully have something early next week.

So...in the meantime...anyone brave/foolish enough to step up to the plate?

jc

bloggs

On 'my' board, the Mods would be chosen from the amount of posts (the top 10 posters for example) then they would stand for election. Then the rest of us would vote for your favorite person to be mod. This would change on a regular basis (every few months), and there wouldn't be a 'supreme' mod, more like a council of mods.

Otherwise i think a section where people put themselves foward as candidates and everyone got a choose who would be elected no matter how popular they are

Not sure if this is what you mean??

Chaos-Engine

I think the way it is run is very nice as is(with some reservations). But how about this:

In ancient greece democracy was true. Unlike our system democacy wasn't representitive. Democracy was much more pure. Every year in Athens a vote would be cast for the most favoured individual and the leaast favoured in the city. The most favoured would have honours confered on them. The Least favoured would be exiled from Athens....

How about we bring this in here.
The most favoured may get mod status convered on them at the discression of the admins. If they are just liked and not worhty(as per admins) then they don't get the mod badge... lol

Rules:
[1] NO lobbying
[2] NO campaigning
[3] If any of the above take place then the offender/s would be choosen for exile


I like pure democracy
End the idiots.. and seen as i came up with the idea i can't be exiled... hehe

shotamoose

Athens may have been the birth-place of democracy, but that democracy put Socrates to death (by a democratic vote). So maybe it's not such a good model for a discussion board ...

Seems to me that boards.ie as a whole is an example of how sometimes a benign dictatorship is the best model. As long as the worst thing that can happen to you is getting banned (or being photographed doing drunkenly humiliating yourself at a Boards Beer bash) and nobody has to do anything productive.

When people have to rely on each other for all the reasons we have to in the outside world - for sustenance, shelter, leisure, security, law, administration - benign dictatorship starts being a problem, because people will demand things the dictator probably doesn't feel like giving them.

Because the members of the boards.ie community and similar ones are self-selecting, however, people can always just go elsewhere if they feel like it. Their lives are (hopefully) not centered around boards - though I can think of a few exceptions - so the dictatorship aspect doesn't bother them, especially if their overlords sprinkle a few privileges on them every now and again (ooh, a journal feature - all is forgiven!). And if it didn't work they would go elsewhere. They don't, in fact they keep joining, so it must work.

bonkey

The remainder of the discussion which was here (as started by Beer Baron) has been split off to a new thread :


So how do your politics work...(The Offtopic bit)

Please keep any further posts in this thread on the topic that was intended.

jc