Power corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely
This famous 19th-century quote provides two important insights into our politics.
First, the quote implies that we on the outside would fall into the temptation of political corruption—if we were put into a political situation. Maybe there is some truth to that.
To minimize that corruption, our democracies have created certain checks-and-balances to deal with this failing of human nature. Periodic elections is one of those checks. Political parties have been thrown out of their government position when the corruption got out of hand.
Second, if the checks-and-balances are not there, the corruption will be much worse. The threat of some kind of punishment does curtail corruption.
For sure, all western democracies have had too many elected officials caught in the arms of corruption. Perhaps many more elected officials were never caught.
We should be asking whether these people had a corrupt inclination before they entered politics or became that way later. But that might be a topic for another essay.
Tiered Democratic Governance (TDG) will handle corruption in a different way. Much less dramatic.
TDG corruption at the Neighborhood Level
Reducing corruption starts with the neighborhood elections. Neighbors are asked to vote for neighbors of good character and capacity for governance. If a fellow neighbor has some inclination for corruption, the neighbors might see this beforehand—and cast their vote to someone else.
As well, elected neighborhood representatives have no campaign favors to pay off. So they cannot “become corrupted” for this reason.
And last, neighborhood representatives really don’t have that much power. They cannot pay off any favors even if there were favors to be paid off.
TDG corruption at the higher levels
Some neighborhood representatives will move up the tiers. But their advancement will happen because their positive approach to TDG governance, not because they made alliances with other TDG members. In other words, there is no way one TDG representative can help another TDG representative get elected. So another source of corruption has been removed with TDG governance.
Much of the decision making in the TDG will be done by committees rather than by individuals. Working alongside other watchful eyes has its own way of keeping people in balance. It will be much harder for several people to hide or join the corrupt inclination.
If a TDG representative puts him- or herself in a perceived corrupt situation, the other representatives have the right to ask some questions.
Let’s take expense accounts as an example. Representatives will incur out-of-pocket expenses in their TDG duties, which should be reimbursed. If one TDG representative has twice the expenses as the others, the others can ask why. If the explanation is not satisfactory, nothing further needs to be said. For sure, a suspected corrupt inclination is not moving to a higher tier.
Hopefully, the annual election would cull that representative out of the TDG. If not, that representative will be watched more closely. More infractions will increase the chance of removal. In other words, there is no need to get combative over the expense account. The situation is “out there,” and more eyes are watching more closely.
When an election forces a representative out of the TDG there is very little drama. The representative was serving the TDG. Now he/she is not. The corruption or perceived corruption has been removed from the TDG.
Of course, if the corruption is serious enough and coupled with sufficient evidence, criminal charges should be laid.
I believe many TDG representatives will have a flair for TDG governance. They will enjoy this aspect of their lives—and will not put themselves in a position where they can be unceremoniously “not elected.”
Conclusion
In essence, the electoral nature of the TDG removes much of the temptation for corruption. If a few TDG representatives still go down this path, there are forces—albeit undramatic—to remove those individuals.
Because corruption in the TDG will be less common than it is in western democracies, citizens will regard the TDG as an honest decision-maker for society.
Published on Medium 2024
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