WEBSITE LETS VOTERS AROUND THE WORLD HAVE THEIR SAY
Angry that only Americans can vote against Donald Trump? Bristling for a Brexit ballot though you’re not British? Now there’s a website that gives everyone worldwide the chance to cast their ballot. Global Vote is the brainchild of Simon Anholt, a UK independent policy adviser who has worked with leaders of more than 50 countries. The Global Vote is part of his Good Country movement, which aims to improve leadership for the good of humanity. Anholt spoke on his goal of helping people find the next Nelson Mandela.
Where did the idea for Global Vote come from, and what do you hope to accomplish?
What’s wrong with the world is too much competition and not enough collaboration. We could fix most of the grand challenges if nations would work together. Fundamentally, they’re still warring tribes. We’ve got 21st-century problems and 18thcentury nation-states. We need a new class of politicians who accept what I call a dual mandate — not just responsibility for their own citizens, but for the entire planet.
The world is very close to two crucial votes — the U.S. election and the “Brexit” referendum on whether Britain stays in the EU. How would the votes of outsiders, like Canadians affect them?
I imagine the global vote lying between an opinion poll and an actual vote. It isn’t a waste of time, because influence these days comes in many forms. The last remaining superpower is international public opinion. And there’s a “magic tipping point” where global voters actually outnumber the national electorate. Global Vote can’t compete with a national election. We’re only trying to exert influence gradually on a narrow part of the political spectrum — international engagement. If tomorrow we got 45 million voters outside the country voting for Britain to stay in the EU, it won’t make any difference to how U.K. voters behave. But gradually, people will get used to the idea that there is an external impact to political decisions.
You’ve called the EU the noblest experiment in history. Does it worry you that Britain might exit?
The simple fact is that for the U.K. to leave isn’t a viable position. There’s no justification at all. The exiters say Britain would be free to trade with the rest of the world. But of course it is. The moment the government said we’d have a referendum on whether to go or stay, it turned leaving into a respectable position. That’s why half the country wants to leave, the other half not. It’s exactly the sort of question that should never be put to a plebiscite. In the absence of understanding the real issues, people will judge emotionally. It’s turned into a preposterous spectacle of narrowminded nationalism and scaremongering.
Is there a failure of confidence in national elections, among democratic countries?
Part of the stimulus for the Good Country project is that more and more people are saying domestic politics is looking like a stale joke. Younger people feel disconnected from old party ideologies of the left and right that don’t mean much any more. If I could set an aim for what I’m doing it would be to ensure that in five or 10 years narrow-minded nationalism or localism will seem as laughable and taboo as racism or sexism is today. It’s egregious. But we’re still in a stage where it seems praiseworthy to stand up and say, “I’m going to screw those with a different passport.”
What will happen to the global votes that are cast?
What we’re not going to do is a lot of pie charts and analysis. It’s not a research project, it’s a shadow election. We’ll remove votes from anyone living in the countries (where the election is taking place.) For the rest, we’ll say who won and by what margin, and make sure as many people as possible get to hear it.
Are there any global leaders on the scene who could pull the world together through the multiple crises of climate change, refugees, terrorism, wars and poverty?
No. It was part of what I had in mind when launching Global Vote. One aim is to sharpen people’s ability to spot them. A true global leader is someone like Nelson Mandela. At international meetings he was accepted as the leader of the group. His wisdom, courage and imagination to talk in global, not just national, terms made everyone defer to him. We need leaders who can talk, who can sway others and who have a genuinely global view. I have hopes for Justin Trudeau.