Dilbert Blog: Pragmatic Party

Government by opinion polls, that's sort of what we have had in the UK for the last eight years. In truth the UK is governed by headlines, which is what usually determines the outcome of the polls. The government is left to decide how best to keep as many people happy as possible to gain election, which is just another opinion poll. The problem with this system of government can be summarised in the following poll questionnaire:
1 Would you like the government to give you $1billion Yes/No
2 Would you want the government to give everybody $1billion Yes/No

The polls would come in and you would either bankrupt the government or overrule the results of question one.

Your methodolgy is to be opinion poll orientated, but allow pragmatism. So you would ignore a poll like the one above on the grounds of pragmatism. This infers that polls are worthless, because you will do what you think is pragmatic, so rather than taking poll, we should first ask you what you think is pragmatic, then if you think it is pragmatic ask the public what they think. You will find yourself swamped with questions of pragmatism, and the public swamped with polls, which is not pragmatic so it is more pragmatic to devolve the decision making to a committee or “cabinet”as it is sometimes known, then they will need to have departments full of people assessing the pragmatism of the ideas. To offset the need for constant polls, the public would elect a representative to make decisions on their behalf, and they could sit together to discuss and debate ideas in the mature method you require. The openness you seek would be tempered by national security and practical issues such as cost. The rules could be outlined in a Freedom of Information act, so that we all know where we stand.

You end up where we are, even to the point where you claim to be acting for the good of the people and not for your own agenda. What you are missing is details of the way you intend to get ideas to people and of allowing stupid people or busy people or couldn't give a fig people to participate. So it appears that your fantasy will remain a fantasy, as mine and many others have done.