#democraciesneedvotes

[s-benj-blog1]

Problem Definition

In order to see where our ideas aligned, we each posted potential problems that would make world peace solvable. My problem statements based on information from my analysis:

1. The representatives in the U.N. do no represent the votes of their average constituents.

2. There is no democracy if all voices aren’t heard.

3. Democracies are missing voting integrity.

4. U.N. checks and balances need alignment.

After regrouping and review, our problem definition was refined to the following:

Electoral Integrity

Problem Statement

When democratic nations have disparate voting processes, corruption of election officials, and/or error-prone counting mechanisms, the propensity for unequal representation within a global democratic system like a nation’s government, the UN, or the EU becomes higher. Within these systems, falsely elected people’s views override the views of the collective represented body.  This results in a lack of unity and conflict follows.  100% of the countries with wars of 1000 or more deaths in the last year had electoral integrity problems.

Solution-Based Hypothesis

If an inclusive, secure, reliable, transparent, and accessible electoral system existed, all citizens of any democracy could vote with confidence and be truly represented in legislatures and decisions of conflict.  This would be a foundational element to move towards a global democracy in which all people have a voice in the governing of their states/nations.