Lessons in democracy for America

US needs meticulous measuring of national progress in terms of sustainable prosperity and modifying the system of government to better execute the best ideas

Donald Trump’s election proved to the world that America is just winging it. Rather than steadily improving governance over time, the country is caught in a hapless cycle of flip-flopping parties and policies while overall national welfare stagnates. Populism has prevailed over pragmatism.

But there are many governments in the world where the reverse is the case. Even in a moment where populism appears ascendant, it is far from sweeping the planet. During the campaign, both Trump and Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton professed admiration for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has juggled coalitions at home and crises abroad and is likely to become the country’s longest-serving postwar leader. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have also remarked that they wish they had China’s ability to get things done without perpetual factionalism holding up national priorities, such as infrastructure.

Here are some of the best practices in how to structure the executive branch, legislature and judiciary into a model of “direct technocracy”.

Create an executive council, like Switzerland and China have.

The “direct” in “direct technocracy” refers to Switzerland’s style of direct democracy in which people have a direct voice in policy through a system of initiatives and referendums. In America, direct democracy applies first and foremost to the selection of the president. Rather than its antiquated and convoluted Electoral College system, the winner of the popular vote should logically become president. In both 2000 and 2016, this didn’t happen. If this isn’t fixed by 2020, it’s a safe bet that an even greater percentage of Americans will have lost faith in their democracy than already have.

There is an even more radical executive branch reform America needs: To replace the oversized Cabinet with an executive council of a half-dozen figures who have real governance experience and skin in the game.

When it comes to the US Congress, there are also very clear lessons from abroad. All of the countries that rank higher than America on the Quality of Democracy index are multiparty parliamentary systems, not presidential republics. Even though the US Constitution says nothing about political parties, Americans are stuck with just two of them, even though 60 per cent of the population wants a third party.

In parliamentary governments, coalitions have to make good on their promises or risk having the government dissolved, snap elections called and getting ousted from power within 90 days. In high-quality democracies, there are far fewer safe seats than in America’s gerrymandered duopoly. Given how unlikely campaign finance reform is, allowing more political parties might be the only way to challenge money-driven politics. Once citizens have a real choice, Congress will have to actually listen to them rather than only to corporate special interests.

If America was modified along these lines, it would soon be led by “President Hillary Clinton” and “Prime Minister Paul Ryan”. The head of state and head of government would have to work together far more effectively than the two branches have in recent years in order to deliver popular demands.

Rebuild a strong federal service, like the United Kingdom and Singapore have.

Alleviating the bottlenecks

Fixing the executive and legislative branches isn’t enough to ensure effective policymaking or execution. For that, America needs to restore the strong federal service it had in the mid-20th century that implemented “New Deal” policies, such as the Social Security Administration and the construction of the inter-state highway system. To prevent Trump’s $1 trillion (Dh3.67 trillion) infrastructure vision from becoming a haphazard collection of boondoggles, the departments of Commerce and Transportation must work closely with the National Governors Association and Army Corps of Engineers to design regional-scale projects that can alleviate the country’s many bottlenecks.

This is where a technocratic civil service — a cadre of professional experts chosen on the basis of merit and with a proven commitment to national welfare — is most essential.

America is, of course, much larger than many of these more focused political systems. For this reason, ensuring America’s future success is a far bigger challenge than merely “fixing” Washington.

Given the Republican alignment of the White House, Congress and Supreme Court, Trump may prove to be a decisive president implementing far-reaching changes across society. But the measure of success is not how much a leader changes, but in what direction. That means meticulously measuring national progress in terms of sustainable prosperity for the majority of Americans and modifying the system of government to better execute the best ideas, no matter who succeeds him. Parag Khanna is the author of Technocracy in America: Rise of the Info-State.