Very good questions which I have not encountered before. I”ll just answer them in the TDG light.
Let me finish asking you how getting rid of all parties makes the average voter stronger, not in light of participation, but in light of getting overall better results. What effect would your proposal have on the bottom 10% of society and their share of the cake?
In the TDG there really are no barriers to being TDG representatives for several reasons:
1. Elections do not require campaign finances or time away from career. Wealth nor wealth security nor are not factors for being elected in a TDG.
2. Neighborhoods will be electing one of their own neighbors into governance. There is no parachuting candidates from somewhere else.
3. Voting will be based on good character and capacity for governance. These this credentials are observable by interacting with neighbors.
4. Neighborhoods, the lowest electoral district, are about 200 people. In most places in the world, this granulation will likely mean poor people will be electing poor people.
5. THere are no nominations in teh TDG. All citizens are eligible to be voted for.
So, the TDG will have a good share of people from the lower and middle classes in government. That will address the wealth redistribution issue facing many western nations.
What effect will it have for female representation, issues important to women?
Pretty much the same as above. Many women will be elected based on how their neighbors perceive their good character and capacity for governance.
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I have kind of run into an article or two about the nature of politicians in Nordic countries, but not enough to verify. It seems there is a ruling class. Families have a long history with a political party, and those members of prominent families in the party are more likely to be put on the party list than those who are not. In other words, the family connection is important to be nominated by the party.
As well, members who want to be nominated must put in sufficient volunteer time in the party to be recognized by the party. While this is still volunteer time, it is far from volunteering for the masses. Not everyone has time or skills to be working the party system for the hopes of a political career.
But you might be in a better position to verify.
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I like your pensioners and Holland example. I have seen some interesting political re-alignments in Canada in my 60 years. They all stem from the established political parties taking a significant sector of society for granted, which then turns into a political movement and a new party is formed (or two parties are joined).
This does not appear to be happening as robustly in the USA.Particular demographics who are taken for granted have a tendency not to vote. The party(ies) has to convince this demographic it is worthy of the its vote. But the D’s and R’s do shift, but very slowly. There definitely is a frustration.
When a new political movement starts in Canada, it consumes a lot of societal energy and resources. This might not be the best investment. The TDG will be more responsive.
