Saving the world, Chicago style

Introduction: Today, I will touch on:

·       A revolutionary new system of government I invented back in 1976 – which the world wasn’t ready for;

·       Chicago, Illinois as an example of how my system could work;

·       How the European Union, especially, could directly benefit from this system, as well as the entire world in a trickle-down kind of way;

·       Miscellaneous comments concerning Chicago, not directly relevant to this new system I’m proposing.

THESIS:  I will use the example of my hometown Chicago to demonstrate how Cross-Sectional Representation (CSR) can save the United States, the European Union, and (indirectly) the entire world. I invented CSR over 35 years ago, though I was unable to generate any interest. Much has happened since then, which I hope will inspire the grassroots interest needed for implementation. CSR, as it might be adopted at the national level is described here:

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/05/alternatives-to-fourth-reich.html

Sidebar: Many of us identify with our hometowns. We understand them with far more intimacy than larger entities such as counties, cantons, provinces, nations, and regional unions. For this reason, perhaps more people will come to appreciate the vast potential of CSR by considering the case of one city – Chicago. Though my hometown might differ greatly from yours, I’m hoping there are enough similarities for you to conclude CSR could work in your town, country, or alliance of states.

I hasten to add, though, that CSR cannot work as a One-World basic form of government, though certain trickle-down benefits would make themselves broadly felt – more on that later.

Basic description of Chicago

My town has a strong mayor, weak Council type of government. Though we now have a new mayor, it remains to be seen if Rahm Emanuel will try to become the strongman dictatorial-type embodied by the two mayors named Daley. Chicago is divided into 50 units called wards, with each electing an alderman to serve in the City Council. However, the Council has been so weak throughout city history, that it basically served as a rubberstamp to approve the mayors’ various projects, policies, and budgets.

Chicago is a one political party town – that being the Democratic Party. For this reason, we suffer the same disadvantages of one-party domains the world over. Cronyism, corruption, inefficiency, and an arrogance which has landed us in a vast ocean of red ink. Given the state of the nation’s and Illinois’ economies, Chicago might have no choice but to declare bankruptcy. That’s an extreme assessment, but I mention it to paint a very grave fiscal picture indeed.

Chicago is also the most racially-segregated city in the United States. Currently, about 42% are white, 37% are black, and 26% are Hispanic of any race.* Also, Chicago isn’t what it once was – for example, its current population (at 2,700,000*) hasn’t been that low since prior to 1920. In 1950, 3.6 million people lived here*.

As is usual in any case of diminishing local wealth, every lobbyist, interest group, and ethnicity fights to maintain its share or increase it. Of course, this does not help maintain the health of the greater unit – the city itself as a whole. [As if anybody really cares!]

My solution involving CSR

The Basic Set-Up

We don’t need a mayor and we don’t need 50 rubberstamping, part-time aldermen. Instead, we should elect a governing board of seven full-time directors. There would not be any need for a Chairman of the Board, which I’ll explain later (see Chairman of the Board, below).

Here’s where the concept of cross-sectioning comes in:

Instead of electing the directors from geographically-based units such as wards, each director would be elected by a new unit called a Cross-Section. To make this change, the names of every registered voter in Chicago would be entered into a computer which would randomly assign them to one of seven Cross-Sections. And those seven lists would be published. My name might end up on list # 4, making me a constituent of the director elected by Cross-Section #4.

My duly-elected director would know that the demographics of his constituents would roughly match those in any of the other six Cross-Sections. They would:

·       Have the same average income;

·       Be of the same mix of races and religions;

·       Be equal in number of voters;

·       Live evenly distributed throughout the city.

That last is especially important. Right now, aldermen cast their votes for one of two major reasons:

·       The mayor is able to exert enough pressure to influence that vote;

·       Each alderman tries to insure that legislation favors his ward or at least doesn’t work to its detriment.

However, a Director representing my Cross-Section #4 won’t have to worry about trying to (especially) please Hispanic voters, since they won’t make up more than 26% of his constituents. There are as many Hispanics in Cross-Section #4 as there are in any of the other Cross-Sections. For the same reason (that is, due to random assignment of voters to Cross-Sections), none of the Directors will have to worry about displeasing some local (in the past, ward-based) interest group. They will be free to vote for whatever is good for the city as a whole.

Campaigning for office – how to become a Director

The only way to campaign for office will be on-line, after campaign fund-raising and spending are banned. But this is strictly regulated and formatted. Each candidate must maintain one – and only one – campaign website. On it, he can list his biographical info – including his accomplishments, legislative and otherwise. Also posted will be a list of endorsers – those groups and individuals who support him. Each candidate is free to list those who oppose his opponents.

Also included are campaign statements, promises, self-promotions, and “analyses” of opponents. However, to be sure, there are many voters who will not care to analyze on-line policy content. They will opt instead to see who is endorsing which particular candidate along these lines: “Hey, my _______ says this guy deserves my vote, so that’s good enough for me.” [Fill in the blank with: union, rabbi, favorite academic association, professional association, etc.]

And why not? Whatever informs a voter’s decision is good enough for me if it’s good enough for him.

As for the primaries: If someone wants to run for Director, they pay a modest application fee which allows his name to be listed on the website of the Cross-Section he wishes to represent. He will be allowed folder space on that website to make his pitch, and then a primary is held with constituents of that Cross-Section going on-line and making a choice. The top five choices in each Cross-Section appear on the ballot two months later, with voters instructed to make two choices: If your first choice doesn’t win, who would you switch your vote to? Simple majority wins with this automatic run-off system.

Chairman of the Board:

Once the seven Directors are elected, it would not be necessary to have a Chairman of the Board. These seven won’t even have to meet in person since they could conduct their business via secure on-line link with read-only access for the public. Any Director could post a proposed piece of legislation on that link, allowing for comments and dry-run votes from the other Directors. If a point is reached when four out of the seven Directors approves, that bill becomes law.

No more Chairman of the Board means no more Big Boss. No more vying for permission to speak at a meeting. No more following the agenda of one man. The shock of this Control by Committee might be too much for the residents of Chicago. But I think they can handle it. Moreover, they’ll welcome this new venue as a breath of fresh air.

Concluding items of interest

Miscellaneous items concerning Chicago:

These items aren’t all relevant to my Cross-Sectional Representation (CSR) model, but I include these to further stimulate thinking about the reform of governance in general:

·       When citizens have complaints or need services, they won’t have to call their local alderman (who notoriously looks up their voting record before deciding how much assistance to render). They can have input on-line or directly with relevant city agencies or ombudsmen.

·       Chicagoans won’t be encumbered with a mayor like Richard M. Daley, who in my opinion must have received a kickback for his efforts, having had the nerve to sell the rights to parking meter revenues for 75 years. This was done with investors (some of whom are foreign and/or anonymous) in order to obtain an immediate, one-time-only windfall payment of $1 billion to the city’s coffers – which has mostly been spent already. This was done with only a few days notice given to aldermen who “had to” quickly vote on this measure, after the mayor had had an entire year at his disposal to cobble together this deal.

For a change, we’ll have a Board of Directors working on such issues as a team, with each member having equal access to all pertinent info and analysis.

·       Chicagoans won’t have to worry about equal protection provided by their police forces. Right now, wealthier and more politically-connected wards get better protection. A Board of Directors would be far more inclined to protect the whole city – not just special enclaves.

·       We won’t have to worry about lobbyists trying to influence lawmakers to, for instance, dole out public money to upgrade private sports teams’ facilities – yes, Chicago Cubs, I’m talking about you. Those kinds of deals don’t benefit the city as a whole.

·       We can rethink basic services from the point of view of what’s good for the public rather than what’s good for powerful unions – for instance, the Chicago Teachers’ Union. Or even teachers’ unions in general.

As for public education, why not finance the best possible teacher-provided education for all kids from grades K thru 8? After that? Modular programs providing on-line instruction without mandating physical attendance in a school with a teacher. Also, why on earth do our public colleges – especially community colleges – insist on classroom contact as the primary means of instruction? Much can be conveyed on-line with support from peer tutors paid to provide assistance.

·       TIF districts can be designed and properly managed for their original purpose – to help eliminate economic blight. However, a CSR Board of Directors would also be likelier to compensate those public agencies which usually suffer from loss of tax revenue under TIF set-ups. No more TIF’s for the purpose of creating a slush fund controlled by the mayor.

·       We will move away from the model of a city which has large sections which have been wastelands for decades, languishing simply because these areas are in a ward lacking political clout. The new theme will be: We’re in this together.

The European Union and the Rest of the World

I understand the EU is basically governed by political parties tightly integrated into a bureaucracy which is very elite and insulated from the effects of popular backlash. Notably, the banking community and mega businesses have way too much power, with little direct popular accountability. The EU still has a long way to go in terms of becoming a single integrated political entity, with power firmly in the hands of the average citizen, regardless of where in the EU he happens to live.

I will repeat the link I’d cited above for the benefit of those who might want to ponder how Cross-Sectional Representation could truly level the European playing field:

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/05/alternatives-to-fourth-reich.html

As for the “Rest of the World,” CSR can’t be directly applied to create a One-World government. National sovereignties and their armies would stand in the way of any international Board of Directors trying to implement locally unpopular policies. However, the rest of the world would benefit from CSR, since CSR-based entities would be freer of the types of elitist control and exploitation from which lesser-developed nations currently suffer.

CSR isn’t perfect by any means, nor will it be easily implemented – traditional power brokers will fight this tooth and nail. But that doesn’t mean they will win. I direct your attention to a link which describes the ideal weapon to use against these opponents:

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/05/general-strike-declared-by-steven.html

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Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“Now is the time to act – before the elites are able to consolidate their power past the point of no return.”

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com