The failings of democracy

The 2008 Taiwan elections just ended, and the President-elect Ma (馬英九) is from the Nationalist Party (中國國民黨). The Nationalist Party is the party that oppressed the Taiwanese natives, imposing among other things, martial law, upon arrival in Taiwan while fleeing Mao's Red Army. The losing party, the Democratic Progressive Party (民主進步黨) was eventually formed by the Taiwanese people in opposition.

One of the most interesting unmentioned tidbits regarding the demographics of this year's election is that this is the first time an entire generation of voters who have grown up without (or not remembering) the era of Nationalist imposed martial law. This particular demographic voted overwhelmingly for the winner, mainly as a reaction against perceived failings of the current president, who is of the DPP.

How has the failings of democracy been demonstrated in this election? Ultimately it comes down to the constrast between democracies requiring the populace to make rather important and long term choices, and that the decision process the populace employs to make these choices often reflect short-term desires. This seems to be currently happening in the presidential race in the United States as well. Time will tell.

Another example of an overinflated government

The Senate is now examining the tuition, endowment, and scholarship policies of private universities. [New York Times] How does the legislative arm of the government have any power over fiscal policies of private institutions?

One can only imagine how much better we would be if they had instead spent this energy legislating against fraudulent practices in the mortgage industry (by both lenders and borrowers).

A bloated government

Congress is calling Roger Clemens and various other baseball figures to testify about the use of steroids in the game. [New York Times]

It amazes me that Congress continues to indulge itself in issues irrelevant to government, e.g. baseball, while not focusing on the real issues at hand.

The role of the electoral college in a republic

Many people in the United States today are dissatisfied with the results of the 2000 Presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. One of the chief complaints is that Bush "stole" the election because Gore won the popular vote. [There are other reasons why people believe Bush "stole" the election, but we ignore them in this post.] Despite losing the popular vote however, Bush won the electoral college, and consequently, the Presidency. Those dissatisfied with the results and subscribe this complain often question the need for the electoral college, especially in the 21st century. We argue here that a republic is necessary now more than ever, that it provides stability to a volatile system, and present two writings which support our claim.

Many people today believe that a government exists to serve the populace, forgotten that first and foremost, that a government serves to protect individuals and their liberties. Federalist Paper 10, authored by James Madison, argues that a republic is necessary for the protection of individual liberties, and that as a society grows, a republic reduces the effects of populist movements.

Recently, a paper from HP Labs address the complex system, based upon 10 rounds of selecting electors, for the election of the Doge of Venice. The paper provides an in-depth technical analysis for the stability such a system provided to the Venetians. This system sustained a remarkable stable society for over 500 years.

hiring a staff

http://la.eater.com/archives/2007/04/27/on_the_house_premiere_the_hiring_game.php