Informed Transferable Voting Should Be the Next Evolution of Democracy

In the 2019 UK general election, 67.3% of eligible voters had their input on the future of the country. Some may feel the higher the turnout the better, but I'm not sure it matters, at all. In a 2015 survey, 69% of respondents claimed they had no interest in politics, 57% didn't know what a general election is, and 59% couldn't name the current Prime Minister. Let's assume a third of those who don't vote said they had no interest. That still means half of the people who voted have "no interest in politics". It is only one study, though I think it's fair to say that each one would show that there are millions of people who don't care about politics, having their say.

I'd go even further and say many who claim interest or knowledge in politics, are also generally ignorant. That sounds cynical but just think about it. How many times have you seen people who are heavily involved in politics be uninformed on topics? How many times have you overheard people having a conversation about politics and you heard something along the lines of "Taxation is theft, I'm sick of losing my money to people sitting at home doing nothing". I'd say a very low number of people have actually bothered to do their research on this. Because if they had, they'd see that 34% of taxes go to social welfare. Of that, 74.6% goes to disability, the elderly, the bereaved, and children. The unemployed benefits are a solid 2.9% of social welfare. So, 0.9% of your taxes go to people who are "doing nothing".

With this in mind, how many people do you think vote for the conservatives based on having to give a pittance of their money away to those without jobs. I'd say less than 10% of them know how much of it goes to those they have such disdain for. Before you think I'm saying this is a conservative trait, I'm not. We on the left have the same problems. Green parties that absolutely refuse to back nuclear energy. Communists that think social welfare is £100 a month for each person to live off. Sheltered leftists that think we need less police and to redirect funds to other places. There are a lot of strong political opinions based on Twitter threads or selfishness, not experiences or facts.

"Democracy is only as good as the education that surrounds it"

When you put it all together. Isn't it an extremely distressing thought, that the country is being changed by people who have next to no political knowledge. So, how can we make it better? I thought about it and came up with the simple idea of political IQ tests before voting. A little research and apparently some other people have had a similar idea, they called it Enlightened preference voting. These are the rules:

1. A test of objective political knowledge (who was the previous PM, how long does a PM stay in office, is The Sun left or right-wing biased)

2. Ask them about policy preferences (should we increase social welfare, are prison sentences long enough)

3. Collect information on their demographic categories.

The place that I'd disagree on is that everyone can vote. In my idea, if you fail the political IQ test you do not get to vote on a political party when you can't even name the leader of the party you want elected. Also, the name. Enlightened? That's a word that comes with a little bit of pretentiousness. There is no wiki entry for this system. Therefore, I'm going to go ahead and give it a different name, informed transferable voting. The little details around this test can change but one thing that is locked in for me is you must pass it for your vote to register. Those details can be the questions involved. They can also be the system. So, for example.

"Which of these policies are most important to you when choosing a party?"

1. Taxes

2. Social equality

3. Crime

4. Immigration

5. Employment

6. Social welfare

7. The Environment

8. Education

9. Health

10. Housing

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried"

So, a few people may have noted that whole 'transferable' part of the name. You may also have guessed correctly that I'm saying I want the single transferable vote system. First past the post is terrible, and we all know it. I won't explain a system already being used in places like Malta, Australia, and Ireland. Have a little read here if you haven't heard about it before. If anyone wonders why I don't want democracy completely replaced if it's so bad. Well, what else is there? Oligarchy? Autocracy? Whilst we may have less ignorance in those systems, they are not free from selfishness or partisanship. The more voters the better, they just need to give a little bit of effort so the system can work like it should.

Let's say you choose taxes, immigration, and social welfare. Next, it could bring up a few pages just to outline the main ideas behind these topics. Maybe it can give you the policies from each party on these topics. Either way, you won't be able to just skim through it all. You'll be asked a few basic questions about these topics with the information that was provided. I realise that many may say "Isn't this a lot to ask?", and my reply is no. Spending an hour of your time, deciding your impact on the future of the country, I don't think that's a lot to ask. Especially if you are someone who claims to care about politics. If you don't? Well then maybe you don't need to be voting.