A consequence of the current democratic system is that it is within the realm of possibility for a nations political leader to be a TV personality with no experience or aptitude to govern. The parliamentary system is ideally situated to prevent this by introducing Rolling Parliamentary Elections. The concept of Rolling Parliamentary Elections is for local elections to be spread evenly over a four year term. A newly elected MP serves a full four year term regardless of a change in administration (see Rolling Parliamentary Elections below).
A strength of the parliamentary system is that the public elect local representatives (Members of Parliament, MPs) from flesh and blood candidates, and that it is the MPs who support a Prime Minister from their number to form a government. The significance of this is that in all cases a voter has direct knowledge of the candidates being elected. The public do not directly elect the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, as a general election elects all MPs on the same date, political parties at great expense focus campaigns on their leaders and policies (it is not practical to use national media to promote local elections). This distorts the democratic system by causing the public to vote for (or against) a leader or party to form the next government (the local candidates are merely proxies for the leaders). As a direct result parliamentary democracy has now become vulnerable to mass media, social media, targeted advertising and fake news aimed at undermining a party leader or political party..
Comments on current General Elections
Currently the Canadian Parliament holds general elections after completing a term of about four years unless the administration is defeated by a vote of no confidence. Following a vote of no confidence parliament has the option of forming a new administration under a new Prime Minister otherwise a general election is held. The democratic benefit of this is that every electoral district has the opportunity to elect (or reelect) their Member of Parliament (MP) every four or less years. Unfortunately the four year cycle affects government policy. Politicians have demonstrated that staying in power has a higher priority than national interests and, as a consequence, governments tend to be more fiscally responsible at the beginning of a term (Ontario Premier Doug Ford in 2019) but spend wildly prior to an election (lowering taxes etc..) in order to buy votes (Ontario may experience this in 2023). General elections are expensive for political parties so they are naturally very receptive to donations, but the public perception of this is that large donations most likely have strings attached (SNC Lavalin, Liberals and Trudeau in 2019). If a donation has an affect on government policy it makes a mockery of the democratic concept of one vote per person and in this case the the “donation” should be considered a bribe.
Rolling Parliamentary Elections
The concept of rolling parliamentary elections is for local elections to be spread evenly over a four year term. A newly elected MP serves a full four year term regardless of a change in administration. General elections are never held but there are always a number of districts (about 2 elections per week) campaigning for an upcoming election. This eliminates the cyclical nature of Parliament as a popular government may remain in power indefinitely, and there is continuous feedback to parliament of public sentiment due to the ongoing election campaigns. If political sentiment is changing there could be a gradual change to the balance of political power and lead to the government being defeated. If the government is defeated the same procedure available today can be used to form a new government (majority party or coalition). If this procedure fails MPs must elect a new Prime Minister from their number using a SECRET ranked ballot system. The ballot must be secret and not subject to party discipline as preferences may well be across party lines.
- The advantages of this proposal for rolling elections are legion:
- The current administration remains in office until it loses the confidence of the lower house. It logically follows that government policy will not be influenced by a general election cycle (buying votes with taxpayers’ money prior to an election). Policy is able to take into account both short and long term requirements.
- Political parties will no longer need to raise funds for general elections. This should reduce or eliminate the influence of corporate and private finance on government policy.
- There is continual feedback from the population concerning shifting political views. At any time, there will be multiple bye-election campaigns in progress. The results of these elections can be analyzed, and the government may choose to modify policy accordingly.
- Continuity. Currently all MPs are essentially fired prior to a general election. If there is a radical shift in party popularity the new parliament may well be composed of a high proportion of inexperienced MPs. This proposal ensures that parliament will have MPs with a range of experience of up to at least four years even in the unlikely case of no incumbents ever being returned to office.
- A bye election is held to elect a local representative (MP) and it will be rare for a specific result to cause the overthrow of the party or government in power. Consequently the electorate will be more likely to focus on their choice of representative (strategic voting will no longer be necessary).
- The negative impact of mass and social media will be reduced. It is not practical to use national mass media to attack or support all individual candidates. Political parties have overcome this for general elections by convincing the public that the importance of the local vote is to elect the next government and, as a result, the population is bombarded with national advertising supporting or attacking parties and their leaders. National advertising for (or against) a party or leader would not be appropriate for local bye-elections, and would have to be sustained continuously to influence all bye-elections. Continuously sustained party political national advertising would be very expensive and most likely tire the public, but it would provide time to query the facts and news presented (true, false, alternate…). Funding for bye-elections should be limited to prevent national mass media advertising directed at local campaigns.
- The political shift in parliament will be gradual and a change of government anticipated. Assuming the government in power has an absolute majority and is losing popularity, there will become a point at which it has an even (or similar) number of seats with the second most popular party. When the two major parties have the same (or similar) number of seats the other parties and independent MPs will determine who governs, and during this time MPs may resort to minority government, forming a coalition or holding a secret ballot.
The disadvantages are hardly worth mentioning for they are few and are of less weight than the advantages listed above:
- Traditionally, governments have placed maintaining political power as a higher priority than national interests. The danger is that this proposal would favour short over long term policy (mindful of the upcoming local elections) but the state of the nation and its economy would most likely prevent this.