Even the current system would work much better if you implemented minimum requirements to vote. Examples:
- Minimum 35 years old;
- Minimum 10 years of salary/work, no matter the income;
- Married for...
Hmmmm.
35 years old? I know a lot of people older than that who are smug, irresponsible and ignorant. But there are also curious and original-thinking teens in the world. Honestly, I don't think lowering voting age to 12 would harm any Western country, that's about the age the median voter stopped growing up.
Minimum ten years work is unfortunately easily gamed; most politicians today have never had a productive-economy job.
Married five years is harder to game, I'll admit, and kids more so again. The ancient Romans delayed a lot of privileges in this way.
IQ tests are trivially gamed, read up on how they are normed vis different populations and you will never take them seriously again. Raven's Matrices have much more temporal and cross-cultural stability, much better choice, but even then there are many shrewd, experienced blue-collar types who would fail this hurdle; and many bright-but-unwise who would pass. Me in my youthful Social Democrat phase, for one :p
Abilities: yeah that's how many ancient tribal democracies worked. But defining which weapons and which exercises matter is tricky in an age of drones and joysticks.
Owning property is an ancient tradition, too, but is gamable - what if I own one sq ft? Some British islands game residency this way.
35 years old? I know a lot of people older than that who are smug, irresponsible and ignorant. But there are also curious and original-thinking teens in the world. Honestly, I don't think lowering voting age to 12 would harm any Western country, that's about the age the median voter stopped growing up.
Minimum ten years work is unfortunately easily gamed; most politicians today have never had a productive-economy job.
Married five years is harder to game, I'll admit, and kids more so again. The ancient Romans delayed a lot of privileges in this way.
IQ tests are trivially gamed, read up on how they are normed vis different populations and you will never take them seriously again. Raven's Matrices have much more temporal and cross-cultural stability, much better choice, but even then there are many shrewd, experienced blue-collar types who would fail this hurdle; and many bright-but-unwise who would pass. Me in my youthful Social Democrat phase, for one :p
Abilities: yeah that's how many ancient tribal democracies worked. But defining which weapons and which exercises matter is tricky in an age of drones and joysticks.
Owning property is an ancient tradition, too, but is gamable - what if I own one sq ft? Some British islands game residency this way.