Dave Volek
2 min readAug 19, 2023

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I hope you didn't write all that just for me. I suspect you have pulled stuff from another essay you have written. The part after "15,000" is new text. Right?

Voter turnout in civic elections in Canada is about 25%. Without the party name behind the candidate, voters have trouble connecting what their candidates are saying on the campaign trail. Federal and provincial elections have a turnout of about 65%. So many political scientists like to make the connection between the parties, higher voter turnout, and (supposedly) better governance.

However, the municipal elections have their flaws. The civic wards are usually larger provincial constituencies, making it difficult for the candidate and councilors to connect with their voters. To get "name recognition," the candidates/councilors rely a lot on advertising, whose donors are expecting certain favors. While electoral processes in my town might be reasonably balanced, I think that balance is lacking somewhat in the bigger cities.

My anecdotal observation is that corruption and scandal seem to be less at the municipal levels than provincial or federal levels. If so, then the municipal governance should be the model the province and feds should follow.

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The "anarchy" parts of your essay is, to me, on the unnattainable utopia side. My farmer father considered himself an expert in all trades. But I remember the winter he tried to replace the transmission in his tractor. He had met his match in mechanics: he had to hire a mechanic to put the pieces together. I cannot see us becoming more "generalized" and move society forward.

The "guild" parts of your response was a great summary of historical competition for power. Which group has the most influence?

In Alberta, the radical conservatives who constitute 15% of the population (my estimate) have learned how to play the political game. This demographic holds the most sway for now.

In my alternative democracy, this competition will be cast aside. Instead of factions trying to get more influence for their own group, we somehow find wise people looking for society as a whole, not for specific elements of that society.

This sounds quite utopic. I invite you to inspect my system and figure out how the uber-wealthy or blacksmiths or religionists can somehow co-opt this system for their own gain.

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Dave Volek
Dave Volek

Written by Dave Volek

Dave Volek is the inventor of “Tiered Democratic Governance”. Let’s get rid of all political parties! Visit http://www.tiereddemocraticgovernance.org/tdg.php

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