23 October 2007

Fixing democracy

Some research recently undertaken and published seems to indicate that in the USA at least, how candidates look may have a bearing on who wins ... "'This means that with a quick look at two photos, you have a great chance of predicting who will win,' Todorov said. 'Voters are not that rational, after all. So maybe we have to consider that when we elect our politicians.'"
If further research bears this out, then we may need to consider how to try to offset the beauty contest effects of candidature. After all, it's scary to think that people might get elected because of how they look. It's bad enough that policies are being finessed for acceptability to middle ground so that real politics -debate and argument- are dying ... some radical overhauls may be needed. And perhaps something that has a party list dimension to it has something to commend it after all.
Who Will Win An Election? Snap Judgments Of Face To Gauge Competence Usually Enough:

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"Spend and tax" not "tax and spend"

 I got a response from my MP which got me kind of mad. You'll see why as I reproduce it here. Apologies for the strange changes in types...