In my book, I gave a possible model of a future TDG for a city of 100,000 people. That model suggested that about 600 people could be in government. A Canadian city of a similar size might have 10 elected politicians for all three levels of government: municipal, provincial, and federal. So it is reasonable to ask about a much higher cost for the TDG when compared the western democratic model. I will address this issue in several ways.
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Most of this 600 TDG officials (elected representatives and appointed advisors) will be neighborhood representatives and, most likely, be voluntary positions. There won't be the high salary, office, or support staff to go with these positions. Most of these neighbors will do their work on the streets, talking to their fellow neighbors. So that high cost of the usual political office is not there.
In this TDG, I would not expect a big time commitment from the neighborhood representatives: maybe 10 to 20 hours a month.
Those elected to the next highest level will likely be more involved in government affairs. Maybe 20 to 40 positions at this level in this city of 600,000. They should be given a modest salary for their time, but this level will still not be a full-time job.
Higher TDG levels will likely be approaching a full-time occupation. Each TDG will determine how much the representatives should get paid. But these positions will be only a few of those 600 position.
For sure, we should not extrapolate the current costs of today's elected representatives into the costs of future TDG representatives.
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The TDG has annual elections. To some readers, that will be very expensive compared to the usual cycle of western democracies of around four years.
Because the TDG elections are annual, administration of elections will be conducted on a more continual basis. So a few adjustments to be made each year with the TDG as opposed to major changes before each election in western democracy. Staffing and training for elections should be a lot less with the TDG. A better voter list (it won't be perfect) should be generated by the TDG and be less expensive.
What is really expensive is the modern campaigns. Just imagine all the lawn signs that need to be recycled every election. The TDG will cut out this expense entirely! Far fewer resources will be consumed in TDG elections. And there won't be the favors that come with those "donations."
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Putting many people into the TDG will deprive the volunteer sector of human resources. But guess what, there are many capable people not volunteering. One reason is that they see current elected officials mostly working for themselves or a vested interest. So why should average citizens be of service to their community when it seems like the elected people are not? The TDG should inspire more people to spend a little less time watching movies and professional sports and put some time into their community.
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The TDG will give many more citizens the experience of being in governance. When more citizens understand the challenges of governing, they will be more accepting of decisions coming from the TDG. Consider the costs associated with all the contempt often seen current government decisions. Many of the dissatisfied believe governance is easy.
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Being on the elected or appointed side the TDG will be seen more of a service to the community than an acquisition of status, influence, and power. Such citizens will be spending their time to provide their knowledge, experience, and wisdom they have acquired rather than trying to defend their electoral position. Today's politicians spend considerable time on politics and not enough on governance. That "political" time is indeed a waste of resources.
