[pp.int.general] Democracy in PPI

[Boris Turovskiy]

On 17.01.2010 17:33, Christian Hufgard wrote:
> Hi Eric,
>
> Generally spoken, PPI is not legitimized by anything. It is a little bit
> like the EU. Some persons invented it and not decide what it shall do.
>
> Even the way the delegates are choosen smells a lot like EU. If there
> ever shall be an organization called PPI, is MUST be legitimized in a
> transparent democratic way!
>
> Voting is also a very delicate thing. Take the EU elections. One of the
> very basic rules of democraty is simply dropped out: Each vote is equal.
>    
You're mistaken, that's not a "basic rule of democracy", but a rule 
which applies to a very specific class of elections (general state 
elections) and which is, strictly speaking, often violated even in that 
case (as for example a vote which helps a party to get past the 5% 
hurdle weighs a lot more than a vote for a party which is in or out for 
sure, or the American voting system where because of the state-weighing 
and winner-takes-all electoral system a candidate who has a majority in 
absolute votes gets a minority in the presidential election). A number 
of democratic institutions do not even try to approach the "every vote 
is equal" idea because they have some other aim - take the Bundesrat in 
Germany that consists of representatives from the Länder (more specific 
- from the respective governments), and whose idea is not to ensure 
proportionaliy but to ensure all ´participating entities a satisfactory 
possibility to make their voice heard.

Best regards,
Boris