A proposal for a better Scottish Democracy

17th June 2024

Dearest reader,

As the most important minority of all, the individual, I welcome you to learn and think over my proposal for a better democracy in Scotland. Scotland is currently in a crisis, we have those who believe strongly in Independence and those who believe strongly in our Union. Our economy is very poor, with many disenfranchised people who yearn for their say. Our politicians are ruling with asinine policies, completely unaccountable to us and who readily ignore us on important issues. With my proposition, I intend to change all of that, and if you agree, we all need to bring it to life.

Our democracy is currently unjust, and regardless of if you are pro-independence or pro-union, our divide is preventing meaningful progress towards a greater future and democracy.

The Injustices are as follows:

When voters cast their ballots at the election, they are not given the opportunity to specify which manifesto policies they support. This causes many poor ideas to be pushed onto us on the backs of great or popular ones, for example, Independence.
Our parliament is ruled by a majority who lack sufficient independent scrutiny over their laws and actions. The public do not agree with many directions taken, and it is our lack of ability to articulate our objection in a collective and powerful way that is causing such a toxic environment.
The current political party has too long of a term, we must change the elected term length to be 1 year pending renewal, exactly what you would expect as the shareholder of a corporation at their Annual General Meeting (AGM). We are all, collectively, individual shareholders of our society, and nobody knows better than us what we want.
Protest is currently unjust, it is censored and ignored too easily by politicians. We do not wish to take our protest to another level, but we need to be heard and to be meaningfully counted. The great might of Scotland is being squandered in the hands of an unaccountable political class who prefer to stay in office or change First Minister than listen to the public. With a Forum, we will only have to convince each other to make meaningful change, rather than waste our time trying to convince politicians that are so head-strong, they ignore everything we say.
Our Taxes go to the English, and our King, whilst we are left with no representation and an inefficient shambles of a democracy, under their control. The system must change and in a drastic way, we can't suffer additional losses as our talent look for fairer pastures, feeling powerless to enact meaningful change in their lifetime.
We have no oversight and meaningful power over the final draft of the laws our parliament passes and it is time for that to change. We need to collectively become Forum members and retake our rightful control over our democracy, safeguarding our future. Politicians are not wiser than the collective public and we are far more efficient at finding truths in modern times as members of the public, free from bureaucracy. Forum participation will welcome a new golden age of progress for the Scottish people.

The solution I propose, is to reform our democracy so that the Scottish people make progress in achieving what they collectively desire. As the late great Charlie Munger would say, “Show me the incentive, and I will show you the outcome”, and with our current incentive structure, we will never collectively get what we want. To remedy this, we must establish a Great Scottish Forum.

The Functions of the Forum:

The Primary function of the Great Scottish Forum is to add an additional constitutional step. Once a law has passed parliament and, if implemented, a Grand Committee who scrutinise the law, it will be presented to the public for a Forum vote. We can do this online, or through post, with an accurate summary of the bill provided. Our vote will ensure that we all collectively have oversight and are intimately involved in our democracy, unlike today. The Forum will have full veto powers, so that if our Parliament are acting against our collective interests and ignoring the public, they will not pass law or reach Royal Assent. The forum power would specifically be above any Grand Committee and above Parliament itself, while still maintaining the King's consideration. Our laws can never have enough scrutiny, and our politicians must be held accountable to us.

The Secondary function of the Great Scottish Forum is to host an Annual General Meeting that simply asks the public, “Do you support the current government?”. If the answer is no, we will no longer play the revolving door game of multiple First Ministers elected by their own party – the government's mandate and power is revoked and an election will come in 28 days giving each party time to campaign. It will force politicians to be sensible and keep in touch with the public rather than pitch to us and ignore our concerns. We will be able to prevent long and harmful periods of disagreement where if we are unhappy with a political party, we no longer have to suffer collectively with 5 year terms. They will be removed within 1 year and our public will be able to accurately find what they want. No more inefficiency of resources, stress or emotional anguish. You will have your say, and we will reward good politicians with annually extended terms.

The Tertiary function of the Great Scottish Forum is to reform the ballot system, as terms granted to government will be 1 year pending renewal at the AGM, the ballot system will be improved to be more efficient. Manifestos will be restricted to 4 key goals and each ballot will have not only the party voted for, but each 4 manifesto points listed with 3 column choices of, “For, Against or Abstain”. This will allow us to directly poll the supporters of the leading party and for them to specifically articulate what their democratic mandate is, because should they waste their time and our resources, it will not pass the Forum. It also prevents poor unwanted ideas from being pursued on the backs of great ones. Should the public find a politician has misled them, they will be voted out in the next AGM within a year and pass nothing. It will provide deep satisfaction to the Scottish people that are divided and unhappy with the union, defend it by giving them the voice they need and prevent certain parties exploiting the hearts of those who feel they do not have a fair deal or any real voice.

Effects and a call to action

If you consider the effects of our collective oversight by way of Forum participation, you will realise that we will have an efficient means of protest, distributing our resources, removing poorly functioning governments and protecting ourselves from the disenfranchisement and stress of having no voice. Our country, as a whole, deserves to be heard and in a powerful way. You will also notice that the forum is apolitical, it does not propose legislation and any political party may operate. However, the public will have their say and get exactly what they want. Regardless of if you are for Independence or for a Union, we must improve our democracy and take comfort in knowing we will not only be heard, but we will be powerful overseers from the start of the political process through to the end.

For the moment, this website will serve as a means of distribution but may be expanded upon or ceded per the public interest should the situation evolve.

Thank you for taking the time to consider the proposal, please share the concept and discuss it, if you support it then write to your MSP and the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack. We must reform our system and improve our democracy, with the correct incentives.

Yours Faithfully,

David Lindsay

Founding member of the Great Scottish Forum

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