DEMOCRACY AND THE TARA VOTERS

Wednesday, May 30th. It is 11 A.M.:

The eldest children of TARA, boys and girls, are sitting, all silent, in the dining room at TARA Boys. Such tranquility is unusual, knowing that the children are on school holidays and all present in the house! Today, the children welcome a special guest: His Excellency Mr. Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India. For several years now, the children have been spending some of their afternoons and evenings at the Embassy, so they have finally decided to invite Mr. Ziegler and his wife to TARA.

At 11 a.m. sharp:

Our guests have brought a mysterious transparent cube, with a slot on its top … “A ballot box, it was used for the last French presidential elections!” explains Mr. Ambassador. Indeed, Mr. Ziegler has been called by TARA Team for a very important mission: talk to the children about democracy. A very broad notion which echoes TARA Boys current concern: there has been a democratic crunch going on at TARA Boys for a while. After 10 years of existence, the smallest democracy in the world is running out of steam. The candidates for the position of Child Representative are too few …

To stimulate the enthusiasm of the children and deepen their understanding of the political system in which they live. His Excellency starts by asking how children would define the word “democracy”. The first answers sound hesitant but soon become more affirmative. Clarifications are brought on the basic notions (monarchy, democracy dictatorship…). Our guest, who graduated in history, then provides the children with a brief presentation on how democracy worked in Ancient Greece, and how representative democracy works nowadays.

Then, the next issue that comes up is the debate about the democracy crisis that the world is going through:

The youngest children at TARA discover that TARA is not the only democracy facing problems, whereas the eldest ones question the reasons of loss of credibility for a consultative system which possibly was taken for granted. The symptoms are long known: laziness of the elected, broken promises, bad decisions… Yes, even in TARA! Mr. Ambassador accepts that elected representatives are not always perfect “but YOU elected your representatives, didn’t you?? If you are not satisfied with their accomplishments, what can be done about it?” asks our speaker. Among the children, a solution is quickly found: the representative must be replaced.

But then, what is the solution when like in TARA Boys no one is willing to represent the public interest?

“Always remember that if you do not decide yourself, someone will decide for you” states M. Ziegler.

When asked why they lack interest in the democratic life at TARA, the boys say that the staff meetings they must attend “are long and boring”, that they have been disillusioned in the past by unkept promises of some candidates, that the mandate is too long … This leads to a debate between the children who want to keep a 6-month mandate and the ones who push forward a 4-month mandate. According to them, a shorter mandate would be a good incentive for more children to run for the position: this can prevent from discouraging potential candidates.

A debate, a people, and a ballot box:

It was enough to put into practice everything they have learnt today and organize a referendum. Once the rules of secret ballots and vote counting have been explained, two ballots are held.

12h30:

Vote counting is done and the results can be announced. The mandate duration will remain 6 months at TARA Girls, but has been shortened to 4 months at TARA Boys. Hopefully, the boys will be happy to revive their growing democracy!

Posted on 28 June 2018