Recent
results from a survey (1) of 2200 Americans showing over 1 in 4 believe that
the sun goes around the earth is problematic for democracy. The system, that
reflects the aggregate opinion of all participants, has served humanity well in
recent years. However, the same characteristic could be its Achilles' heel as
its leaders will have to reflect its population. If aggregate knowledge present
in a democratic society falls below a threshold value, it can act like the
event horizon of a black hole. Once through it, there is no turning back as it
will spiral down to a singularity.
There have been telltale signs in
many democratic societies for some time. In the world's largest democracy,
elections were decided by last names and not policy choices. In Southern
Europe, star power has been more dominant. More recently, powerful democratic
countries have opted for less optimal outcomes. All of these may imply that
democracy, as a system, is running out of its originally intended use - assure
optimum outcomes for society in the long run. Instead, it is now more likely to
reinforce low knowledge content, if it is dominant.
One democracy appears to have
resisted the race to the bottom. Down under, where penalties are imposed for
those not bothering to vote, high turn-out has assured that knowledge content
of the voters is above the democratic event horizon. It appears that the
prescription for ailing democracies returning sub-optimal results is to enhance
voter turnout, possibly by the imposition of penalties. The biased selection in
the non-voter cohort may be just enough to keep the system from the plunge to the
unknown.
(1) http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/02/14/277058739/1-in-4-americans-think-the-sun-goes-around-the-earth-survey-says