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Matt Hein / Philosophy / Policy /

Policymaking handguide

A sound introduction...

This is essentially an extension of ReAka’s philosophy, oriented towards free, prudent decisionmaking as warranted by a people. As justice should be blind, so as well should associations be.

Political Handguide
Principles to engagaging in proper political affairs.

Written as a compliment to ReAka’s philosophy.

This guide is not intended to be an exhaustive review of the political process, but instead a look into how proper policymaking should be engaged. In a pholosophical sense, this may seem a bit idealistic, but in a time where common sense is ignored, it seems to be needed the most.

Remmeber, it is important to be honest as to what you are. If a society proclaims themselves to be an absolute democracy, then they must identify with that and take an approach based on a common sense, community rule to do so. It is not a monarchy, nor an oligarchy and motions towards such organisation are an identity travesty. If a person proclaims themselves to be accountably, then they should act in that manner. Be what you are and not what you aren’t.

It is also intended to be a common sense look as how things should be. Sadly, much of management never go any further than photo shoots, conventions and public hearings. The nation progresses mainly on the streets and soil, not within the confines of the office. A community must govern from both the office and the trench.

A politician should:

Take honesty, accountability and impartiality into considerations when he goes about his duties. Honesty takes priority, but accountability for his actions is a must. Impartiality, as in nonpartisan decisions, basically tell us that the politician should reflect upon two things when he votes for policy, his common sense intuition (what is best) and the wishes of his constituency.

The process should - Severely limit contributions of any sort and work off sheer honesty. (in a modern day example, funds would be rejected from companies of any sort, financial institutions, special interest groups and private citizens towards the election of any official.)

Make no motives ulterior. Everyone in the process should know what is occuring, who is sponsoring policy and why this policy is being sponsored. Information must be made public unless if threatens the security of a nation.

Voting should be done with the politician’s conscience, with the best interests of the people in mind and no other interests beside that. As they are elected, sustained and kept in office by the people, their opinions should reflect those of their constituents only, not ulterior interests.

Alliances/ friendships are okay within the policymaking process, but they must be on a cordial basis and no further than that. When these conventions begin to evoke pressure because of selfish motives of either party, this spells corruption which damages the accountability of the process.

Political parties should not at all exist. With factionalism in line, this gives rise to partisanship, polarized interests and pressure to vote according to a line of imposed ethics. The existence of these parties encourages special interest groups, funding from large entities to force legislation and greed by party leaders to earn funding by pursuing these projects for collective power. Unfortunately, as a result of parties existing, those who belong to said party earn an ‘affiliatory mark’ which give them greater prominence in the running and shut the idealists and next-generation hopefuls out of the process who wish to keep the situation pure, but do not belong to the major parties. The consistency of those who are pressured to vote in a certain way under the party system is alarming as those with conventional solutions which differ from the set opinion are shut out of the public eye.

Media influence into the political process - This is alarming as well as the press can control/ manipulate a great deal of the information available to the public, thus swaying their perception of the truth. Media outlets should cover political issues with absolute impartiality, stating only the needed facts and avoiding opinions. Obscurantism in itself must be avoided as well. What happens, happens, and the frequency of that should never be ignored.

Religion in politics - should be left out of the process entirely. Let people go about their religion as they please, so long as it does not violate the rights of others. Government must have NO position on a religious purpose, nor use religion as an excuse to justify their policies to the people.

Justifying policy must be done with a common sense, no-chicanery look at how such policy affects the people and operations of a nation. In the end, the people have the final say, but only after extensive public debates, discussion and conferences between the policymakers and the people. Anyone wishing to voice their concerns should be allowed to do so without fear of retribution.

Policies must respect the rights of the people (including their rights to privacy, religion, lifestyle choices, ethincity, etc.)

Businesses (modern example) should have limited imput into policy and may only make contributions to public projects, not the policymakers. They may not have a part in naming public institutions as a result of such donations. All must be done in the name of phinanthropy.

Heredity, funding and affiliation must play no role into whether a politician gets elected. Rather, their character, integrity and ideas on how to improve the world for their people should be the basis for election. His standings on certain issues should play a role and must be known prior to election.

All politicians should regard their philosophical differences as cordial, otherwise disputes would grow rampant. Teamwork is absolutely essentialy for a community to thrive.

The politician must not look at his affairs from the office, but rather take a look at how things progress on the streets, cafes, parks, schools, businesses, factories, shopping centers, courts, and religious centers. Outside of policymaking, it is essential that he confer with his constituents and know their concerns, wishes and thoughts on various topics. Discussions with the public should be held on a regular basis with the middleman process eliminated. (they must see the issues from the trenches)

Pay for politicians should be determined by the people, given how they beleive he is functioning. In terms of function, a politician must be recalled quickly if the people so decide his job is unsatisfactory.

A politician must not look at the numbers, but rather the lives influenced by his decisions. This is integral to moral thinking. Budget concerns are important, but auditing by an independent authority, impartial to outside influence can provide the grounds for numeric decisions.

Other links of interest

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