3. The Ergonocracy Political Model - The Global Community
3.1 Characterisation
The context in which Ergonocracy's political model is presented relies on the observation that most citizens demonstrate no fondness for ideologies and find it increasingly difficult to situate their logical viewpoints within the traditional right or left on the political scale.
Besides this, apart from a few rare cases, the majority of our international leaders show an enormous lack of talent, charisma and vision for the future. This has helped engender a growing feeling of disillusionment. There is also widespread pessimism regarding issues of political influence, as well as distrust in decision-making processes at the highest levels. Politicians seem to show no concern for citizens’ views, finding grass-roots involvement processes complex and boring. In practice, citizens are treated as if they were spoiled children, to be consulted on a “need-to-know” basis except during election campaigns when candidates vie with each other to demonstrate their respect and affection for the common man.
In addition, as we have seen before, today’s political regimes can be seen as a patchwork of laws and systems forming our historical heritage, when changes occurred that were originally designed to solve problems specific to a given era. This highlights the notion that current regimes are clearly unsuited to the needs of 21st century citizens, creating an ever-widening gap between citizens and institutions.
Concerning public services, the Ergonocracy political model seeks to change the status quo by presenting a new paradigm based on the concept of direct and participatory democracy. In this new model, the “democratic representative” is eliminated so that no more blank cheques need to be handed over to intermediaries. Why do we need intermediaries if people are able to make their own decisions? Why do we have to believe political promises if rulers have clearly demonstrated that they do whatever they want once they have achieved power? In theory, democracy allows us to hold our leaders accountable for failures in governance, but in practice, they never seem to pay for their mistakes and offenses. The worst that can happen is that they lose the next election.
This is why the Ergonocracy political model defends the abolition of all positions of personal power. Instead, executive power should be assumed by private service Concessionary Companies chosen publicly through public procurement. This will involve a ‘request for tender’, commonly abbreviated to RFT, where the final decision will fall to the citizens. The same procedure will be followed for each of the previously defined Public Functions.
The activities of these Concessionary Companies could be spelled out in the form of well-defined mandates and clear objectives, previously decided on by citizens in the public procurement phase. Later on, these companies could be rewarded by their contract being extended, or punished by its cancellation.
This new economic model works particularly well if we examine how it already functions in small-scale companies that are run by direct partners whose style is characterised by considerable flexibility16.
The resulting type of political organisation will not exist in a physical sense, i.e. it will have no permanent structural layout. Rather, it could consist of a network of companies instructed to provide and carry out all necessary public activities related to each Public Function, controlled and monitored in real-time by any citizen.
This model, therefore, is based on the concept of universal democracy, divided into two paths, participatory and effectiveness, and is characterised by a paradigm whose aim is to reflect mankind’s true nature. The objective is to leverage the information technology that is available in our era and use it to empower each citizen so that he or she can vote and participate directly in local and global communities. Each citizen could also participate in the process of choosing a Concessionary Company that will take a purely technical and rational approach to the implementation of decisions.
Firstly, we should understand the basic principles that are at the origin of the Ergonocracy Political Model.
The principle of equality and human rights
As a starting point, Ergonocracy supports the values and principles of equality and non-discrimination that have been well established in traditional Western democratic societies since the French Revolution17.
But the French Revolution stopped abruptly at a certain point, due to the Revolution's own dynamics, to the greed of certain rulers and also because they didn’t have the technological tools that we have today. Thus, Ergonocracy seeks to go further by defining more advanced frontiers with the use of IT and creating conditions in which humans can live in accordance with their true nature. As previously mentioned, this is the origin of the name "Ergonocracy".
In addition to safeguarding the principles of freedom and equality before the law, inalienable defense of private property and the right of resistance to oppression, Ergonocracy adds the following concepts: dilution of power, direct democracy (legislative power), concessionary companies that will run each predefined public function (executive power) and the prohibition of economic exploitation of man by man.
With regards to the principle of fraternity, Ergonocracy supporters believe that a genuine and effective application of this principle can only be implemented in the Ergonotopia utopian stage, which will be explained in a chapter further on.
The principle of corruption
An act of corruption is nothing more than an undue “purchase of power”, to the benefit of both parties; the corruptor and the corrupt. Ergonocracy argues that power exerts a negative influence on its possessors, who have a difficult time avoiding the temptations of corruption. This is not a digression, it is merely a conclusion supported by facts that have been documented since the invention of writing. This phenomenon has been observed constantly and systematically in all societies and cultures and in all eras, including the Western democracies of the 20th and 21st centuries. It is therefore a global and transversal condition that occurs in both democratic and autocratic states, in rich and poor countries. However, it is recognised that in democracies, there is theoretically greater modesty and control over power compared to autocratic regimes, which are far worse.
In all democratic countries, power is assigned through electoral processes to so-called citizens’ "representatives". These individuals hold powerful, decision-making positions and once they are subjected to the “poison” of temptation, they rarely find the strength to resist the pressure inherent in this decadent system.
There are other undesirable phenomena which dangerously stretch ethical boundaries. These include the worship of powerful positions and the exchange of favours in complex contexts. The only limits are those imposed by the personal ambition of the “representative” and his political group.
The consequences of corruption, with its accompanying economic and social costs, are admittedly harmful at all levels. The concept of citizenship is undermined and the principle of equality is subverted so that citizens are subconsciously divided into two large groups:
This principle of power corruption is often associated with two other principles:
Corruption is not a phenomenon exclusively connected with power positions. In effect, many times low ranked clerks have the chance to speed up or slow down the pace of a file’s resolution according to their “client’s” request and purpose.
The principle of total citizens’ sovereignty
The proponents of Ergonocracy believe that citizens are intelligent enough to decide their own destiny and that their decisions should be direct and sovereign. The presence of intermediaries for this purpose is not only redundant, but completely unnecessary. In addition, most of these intermediaries are incompetent or malicious. Thus citizens are faced with an additional threat to their future and their security, as political promises are rarely kept once the election is over. Politicians routinely disrespect their own electoral programs, merely tricking voters into believing the illusion of promises.
The principle of information technologies
Taking the power away from “representatives” implies transferring it to citizens, thus eliminating the concept of representative power.
So that we are able to achieve this, the political system will have to be redrafted in order to equip citizens with effective decision-making capacities to be exercised whenever they wish to participate in this process. For this purpose we are fortunate to be living in a privileged era: the era of information technology, which allow us to utilise these technologies simply and effectively18.
The principle of total transparency
Ergonocracy defends the notion that all political mechanisms must be transparent and flexible, arguing that all citizens must have direct access to all public processes. This requires all public entities to disclose their actions and activities online.
The principle of direct accountability should coexist along with the principle of total transparency, applicable to activities that are carried out by each Public Function and all its sub-functions. It will also refer which Concessionary Company will be responsible for each action or activity. This information must be published on the Community Web Portal along with the name of the person responsible and his or her substitute in case of absence. This is helpful, for example, in case of an accident or serious malfunction of public infrastructures. In this way, the person responsible for conducting maintenance and ensuring that these public assets are in good working condition can be quickly and easily identified.
The principle of law simplification
This principle recognises that rules are unavoidable, but they should be briefly and concisely drawn up and widely disseminated. Additionally, it stipulates that all questions posed by citizens must be answered within two business days.
The principle of maximum individual freedom
One of the most precious concepts of Ergonocracy is the principle of maximum individual freedom. In theory, freedom should be total. However, this is impossible due to the fact that we all have to coexist and it is a well-known fact that in the exercise of individual freedom, we may end up infringing on other people’s rights.
It is in this context that the principle of Local Communities of Common Interest was created, as will be further explained in another chapter. Among many conclusions, it states that our individual freedom will be greater if our level of integration and identification with our neighbours increases. If our preferences and behaviours are similar, there is less risk of disruption.
Therefore, it is logical to conclude that it is the political system that should be molded and adapted to the needs of the individual and not the reverse. The system should be organised in such a way as to maximise the freedom of each individual and therefore enlarge the efficiency and the happiness of the community as a whole.
This is why we accentuate the importance of the principle of the rejection of a sedentary nature19, which highlights our nomadic and tribalistic nature.
Ergonocracy is part of an entirely liberal world and aims to indicate the path to a society where individual freedom – including extreme rights20 - will not be constrained. To apply this concept, the project would have to be inserted into a gridline agreement, which must be subjected to the scrutiny of a qualified majority of citizens. For this purpose it is essential that society as a whole reach a high level of maturity.
Some liberties are impossible to implement in Ergonocracy models, such as the freedom of an individual to choose not to be a virtual slave of his or her own labour. In fact, when an individual is forced to work in exchange for a regular income that he or she spends on meeting basic survival needs, this person is giving up a fundamental freedom of choice - the choice of how this person wishes to spend his or her time. However, it must be acknowledged that only a highly efficient and productive society will be able to succeed in implementing this kind of freedom, which is utopian in nature21.
3.3 Players in the political process
The participants in the political process are the following:
Citizens …
Citizens are the “clients” of this system and they’ll participate in several ways:
Concessionary companies …
The Ergonocracy political model establishes that executive power should be monitored by all citizens, although for operational reasons, this process will be delegated to the so-called Concessionary Companies directly elected by citizens’ voting via the Community Web Portal. Any given electoral process will be supported by an open request for tender, commonly abbreviated to RFT.
Concessionary Companies are service companies with profit-making interests. For each of the permanent Public Functions, one Concessionary Companies will be chosen to implement the political program (agenda) previously presented to citizens; although each law will have to be separately voted on.
This political program (agenda) could consist of each Concessionary Company’s response to the RFT and will have to take into account the required specifications originally defined in the aforementioned RFT. In its political program the Concessionary Company will not only respond to RFT specifications, but could choose to include other features to add value to its candidacy.
The Concessionary Company that is “elected” will have to undertake the previously defined Budget Plan necessary to accomplish the RFT requirements. Among their assignments, Concessionary Companies will have to allocate and manage all available resources and should also supply detailed technical plans and proposals for legislative options.
Applying a somewhat rudimentary analogy, the activity of these Concessionary Companies could resemble traditional condominium management companies, although the scope and complexity involved in the management of a Public Function is, of course, much more intricate. However, the similarity rests in the fact that both companies manage the so-called “common public property” through an assigned mandate decided by citizens in order to put a specific program into effect.
Each Concessionary Company will have the responsibility to manage another RFT process type - to choose each Sub-Concessionary Company that will execute each task (sub-functions for all operational activities).
It is important to clarify that the “modus operandi” of Concessionary Companies has nothing to do with ongoing practices carried out by public-private partnerships22, as the idea is to hold the Concessionary Company fully responsible for its decisions and make it share in the normal entrepreneurial risks.
The Arbitral Council
The Arbitral Council is the only elected collective board and is composed of twelve members who will mainly hold arbitral power and assume following responsibilities:
A detailed analysis of this last assignment highlights the fact that the mission of Arbitral Council members will be to supervise each one of the ten Public Functions25, which can be distributed via a random process or agreement among members. Thus, each Public Function and its respective Concessionary Company will be controlled by one of the members of the Arbitral Council, which will act as a kind of high-level administrator. Among their duties is the obligation to regularly raise questions with their Concessionary Company with particular attention to the sub-concessionary’s hiring processes and management activities.
Regarding the other two remaining council members, one of them could work as a Council Coordinator, assisting other members with the more delicate issues, while the rest will exercise the function of Deputy Coordinator, assisting and substituting for the Council Coordinator and accumulating the functions concerning the Council’s routine activities.
All of these twelve positions should be rotational in nature, even those of the Council Coordinator and the Deputy Coordinator. This means that every three months all members will exchange functions and responsibilities, implying that each Concessionary Company could have a new “Administrator”, this measure being justified in order to prevent people from stagnating in their positions. In fact, personal relationships could be built along the way that may lead to a decrease in member surveillance.
Each Local Community should question its citizens to decide whether the community should present a candidate to the Arbitral Council.
In the event they decide to do so, the next step could consist of establishing an electoral process for the choosing of their candidate, although these would need to supply proof of a clean criminal record. Any local citizen could apply to become a candidate upon submission of an application. All candidates should be at least 55 years old in order to be allowed to apply for the post, the reason why many Proponents of Ergonocracy call this group the Council of Elders. This is one more example of how Ergonocracy’s political model demonstrates respect for the accumulated experience of its senior citizens and acts in harmony with the best ancient tribal practices, using mechanisms that were patiently honed over the millennia by a process similar to natural selection.
After choosing their representative, the Local Community will be responsible for inserting this information onto the Global Community Web Portal, stating the reason for the person’s candidacy. From this moment on, he will integrate a list of people intending to become a member of the Arbitral Council.
Then, on a predetermined day, all citizens will be invited to vote for members of the Arbitral Council, choosing among the referred list three candidates. They will assign three points to their first choice, two to their second and one for the third choice. The twelve candidates who received the most points will occupy the twelve Arbitral Council posts.
All Council members will have identical status and power regardless of the number of points obtained. The Arbitral Council will have to be renewed every year in a new election and members will be barred from performing functions for more than four consecutive years.
Controlling Entities
One of the most critical of the checks and balances built into the system is carried out by specific Concessionary Companies, designated Controlling Entities, whose mission is to detect acts of corruption and deviation from defined processes.
Like all other Public Functions, the assignment of these concessions will also be done via public tender and citizens would have the final word in the choice. The only difference is that this is the only area in which, instead of a single incumbent Concessionary Company for the same Public Function, three different companies will be chosen.
For each of these three companies - Controlling Entities - no specific assignment areas will be defined, as each company will be authorised to investigate whatever the company’s leading members decide.
In fact, none of the three controlling entities will know what the other two are investigating. This will dissuade potential corruptors by making it useless to corrupt a given Controlling Entity, as nothing will prevent the corruptor from being investigated immediately afterwards by another controlling entity. Moreover, the controlling entities may look into each other’s past activities, though not their current ones so that healthy competition may occur.
The object of investigation is global in range. All Concessionary Company behaviour, including that of Sub-Concessionary Companies, can be extended to specific monitoring activities such as the food served in restaurants. In its investigative actions, Controlling Entities can follow clues or proactively promote their own research. Although it may not seem very ethical, nothing prevents Controlling Entities from making monetary agreements with complainants in exchange for evidence and information that leads to convictions.
The mission of these Controlling Entities is to find the maximum number of irregularities as possible. This could be the outcome that citizens value most and thus, the chances of the concession being renewed in future elections will increase. In addition, the more irregularities detected, the higher the income received by these Controlling Entities, this being a percentage of applied fees and penalties.
In fact, all revenue obtained by Controlling Entities could come from the discovery of irregularities, especially if they manage to discover and prove cases of corruption. This way the public treasury of the Global Community will not spend a penny on this service. Besides, these funds will only be delivered to the Controlling Entity after heavy fines had been paid by the offenders, who could choose to pay all fines voluntarily or take their chances in court where they could run the risk of having to pay much higher fines if they lose the case.
The Ergonocratic political model, in terms of legislative power, defends the notion that all power should be diluted and exercised directly by each citizen, who votes directly through a portal that consists of an electronic internet platform called “Community” Web portal26, described in detail in a later chapter.
All kinds of laws and decisions are to be voted on and the task of proposing new laws or change existing laws should be assumed by everybody, citizens and Concessionary Companies alike.
Executive power involves the practical implementation of laws approved through the legislative process. Traditionally, in western democracies, legislative power is exercised and approved in parliaments, while executive power is exercised by elected governments.
According to Ergonocracy, citizens hold legislative power and make decisions through the Community Web Portal; executive power could also be wielded by citizens via Concessionary Companies - chosen directly by the voters - and also Sub-Concessionary Companies. These companies will carry out decisions previously made by citizens.
As stated before Concessionary Company activities could resemble those of condominium management companies, although the scope and complexity involved in the management of a Public Function is, of course, completely different.
3.6 Community Web portal
The Community Web portal is a crucial element in Ergonocracy’s political model and in the functioning of the three powers, Legislative, Executive and Judicial. It will be through this portal that all interaction between citizens and Public Function Concessionary Companies take place. Although it is the only available interface, it will permit contact by various means, including telephone, computer, or video conference.
Anyone who is familiar with Internet use can easily imagine how such a Web portal could work.
Regarding the structure of the Community Web Portal, here is just an example of what kind of main links could appear on the home Web page:
A) Alerts, messages and personalisation27
B) Personal citizens’ affairs and relations with Public Function services
C) Global Community affairs
D) Local Community affairs
E) Judicial affairs and trial monitoring
F) Indicators, research and studies
The following paragraphs provide a brief account of the first level entry of each of the abovementioned main links:
A) Alerts, messages and personalisation
This tab automatically shows an alarm in case of alerts or new messages; it can be customised to send warnings to other devices (mobile phones, for example,) or to state that some alerts remain to be seen:
B) Personal citizens’ affairs and relations with Public Function services
C) Global Community Affairs
Here is the composition of the first level entry of each of the above options in abridged form:
a. Law Search29
b. Law Proposals - phases30:
i. Proposals suggested (in search of quorum)
ii. Proposals under review to determine if additional studies are needed (optional)
iii. Additional studies phase (optional)
iv. Alternative proposals, gathering of alternative proposals – quorum required
v. Proposal adjustment phase - the set of alternatives is closed
vi. Timing of next steps
vii. Information and knowledge conveyed to all citizens
viii. Tests by citizens
ix. Voting period (which typically lasts a day)
x. Information on voting results, indicating which law passed31
c. Approved laws (search)
d. Rejected laws (search)
e. Customisation32
a. Monitoring of all Concessionary Company information systems34
i. Real-time analysis, including processes and ongoing projects
ii. Analysis, objectives and deviance
iii. Request an investigation by a controlling entity
iv. Observation of the planning of future activity, budgets and strategies
v. Processes assigned to sub-concessionaries, including the way in which the