Universal Tripartite Elections

A Universal Ten Year Plan and Election Campaign

By John Taylor; 2010 July 18, Kalimat 05, 167 BE

A Decade for the Consistory of Holiness, the Dicastery of Peace and the College of Light

We have outlined Comenius' proposal to establish limits to the concentration of power by electing three world governments instead of one. His generalist aim was reflected recently in the Earth Charter, which begins by declaring in part,

"We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations." (preamble, Earth Charter, http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/)

Each of these latter three responsibilities is the special concern of one of the institutions suggested by Comenius. The Dicastery of Peace deals with our responsibility to one another to uphold rule of law in a "culture of peace." The College of Light is concerned with our relationship to nature and the world, the "greater community of life." The parliament of religions, the Consistory of Holiness, handles our moral responsibility to future generations, or, to use the terminology of faith, our responsibility to a God of love.

The question remains, however, how these three institutions would come into existence.

Travel around the globe in the 17th Century was equivalent to what a voyage to the moon would demand right now. Such a voyage took months and years to undertake, it cost a fortune and had only been accomplished by a few select individuals. Comenius was therefore being bold -- but still bolder than any statesman today -- when he suggested that a world constitutional conference for continental delegates to elect a world senate should be held at all. The fact that a universal election has yet to be organized even today is testament to his farsightedness (attempts to do so using the Internet have so far not gained traction). Because the journey was so long, expensive and arduous, Comenius suggested that this intercontinental convention be held only every ten years.

Needless to say, there have been tremendous advances in transportation and communications since his time. We could conceivably hold a world election more frequently than every decade. Nonetheless, centuries of experience with election campaigns on the national level shows that they are tremendously expensive and arduous processes that go on for months and years. The "Cosmopolitan Democracy" section of People Without Borders" will discuss at length how a specially designed infrastructure would make global elections more fair and efficient. But even under ideal circumstances, it would probably not be desirable to hold a global election more often than that, especially considering that in a Comenian order each citizen is enfranchised with three votes, not one.

The best compromise seems to be to spread the three votes over an ongoing ten-year cycle of elections. Each of the three institutions, the parliament of philosophy, science and education (the College of Light), the parliament of ethics and religions (the Consistory of Holiness) and of political activism for peace (the Dicastery of Peace), will have its respective election once each decade, spread over three years.

There are three "on years" for each of the three fields of human endeavour, be it the college, the consistory or the dicastery. The first of the three "on" years includes a universal election on the local level. The second year stages an election of regional "voters." On the third year these delegates make the choice of members of the world senate.

 

As we shall see, these elections are not the exclusively political functions that we are used to. They are universal gatherings and confabs of humanity. Elections have no candidates, every participant is eligible. The voting is combined with public works and service projects designed to benefit deprived regions -- the expert's principle of demonstrating expertise by addressing the greatest need for his or her skill.

Such group activity assures that each vote can in all good conscience be cast based on direct, recent personal knowledge of the person being voted for. Citizens who distinguish themselves in the most successful service projects make themselves eligible to be chosen by their peers for higher office. At the same time, research initiatives and constitutional conventions are held to aid these projects and at the same time lay the groundwork for future policy.

::