FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Below are some frequently asked questions about the democratic world government (often referred to by the acronym "DWG") that we are trying to establish, as well as questions about Vote World Government, the non-profit organization. Not all questions about the democratic world government (DWG) can be answered at this time, because it doesn't yet exist, and people will have different ideas on how it should be structured or how it should work. All answers below are short, but some of them have other links within them, and clicking on these links will bring you to more details. (Many of the answers to these questions are also in the LONG SUMMARY, a link at the top of the page.)
- Is Vote World Government merely a launch vehicle that has been set up to manage events until the actual world government exists?
- Does it take a world referendum to obtain a mandate to establish the DWG? And what level of support would it take to assure success?
- How do I vote on whether I favor establishing the DWG, and how old must I be to vote?
- Is this first worldwide referendum being done with a secret ballot?
- Will my vote be "certified"?
- Can I be a volunteer vote-collector?
- Why do we need a democratic world government anyway? What is it mandated to do? How would it fit with the United Nations?
- What is this "corruption-proofing" system that was mentioned earlier? Wouldn't the establishment of a world government just invite more corruption on a grander scale?
- Who defines the borders of a DWG constituency that would elect a representative?
- Will there be political parties in the DWG?
- How is the campaign for the DWG going so far?
- How is the money situation at Vote World Government? How do I make a donation?
- Will there have to be global taxes to finance the DWG?
- What is the operational language of Vote World Government?
- Will every constituency (of 10 million people) have an office of Vote World Government?
- Will people in each country construct a national Vote World Government office?
- Will there be local Vote World Government offices?
- Will there be voluntary DWG elected representatives in advance of the 1st official DWG election?
- Will constituency offices do more than coordinate the collection of votes for the world referendum?
- Is there any paying work with Vote World Government?
- Would there have to be a Constitution of Earth?
- Would a 2nd worldwide referendum be needed to ratify a Constitution of Earth.
- When we get to actually electing elected representatives to the DWG, will we need to use a secret ballot?
- How is "corruption proofing" done?
- Will Vote World Government workers lead recorded lives?
- Would we need a physical headquarters for the DWG?
- Is it possible that the DWG may want to have a physical headquarters of its own some day?
- Can the DWG make laws in any area of life at all?
- How do human rights fit into all this?
- How can the DWG enforce any world law?
- Would religious freedom be protected by the DWG?
- What would be the main thrust of world law?
- How does terrorism get eliminated in all this?
- What kinds of volunteer activities could a person do to help move this process along more quickly?
- Who supports this project?
Q: Is Vote World Government merely a launch vehicle that has been set up to manage events until the actual world government exists?
A: Yes. It is a non-profit organization, based in Canada, and it is hoped that eventually, it will have an office in every country. The organization is non-partisan, meaning it is not connected to any political philosophy or ideology. And it is non-sectarian, meaning it is not connected to any religion or belief. Our address is info@voteworldgovernment.org. We prefer receiving e-mail, but our street address is:
Vote World Government,
222 Victoria Ave., Box 1102,
Shawville, QC
Canada J0X 2Y0
If you write to us by way of ordinary mail, you must give us an e-mail address where we can reply to you. We can't financially afford to send letters by mail to everyone who has a question to ask or a suggestion to make.
At this time, Vote World Government is only able to carry on its activities and communications in English. This will change as more resources become available, but getting the global referendum done will always be the highest priority, and resources must be applied to the highest priority first, and everything else later. (If you write us a long letter, we may not have the time or people required to answer it. The best way to involve yourself is to join or start a local branch of Vote World Government, and connect with the central office in Canada that way … and the way to start a branch is to first become a "vote collector."
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Q: Does it take a world referendum to obtain a mandate to establish the DWG? And what level of support would it take to assure success?
A: Yes, a world referendum is necessary, and it must be conducted by way of the Internet, because that is the only practical way (other ways can be added on later, if they becme practical). Only a "compelling" demand from the human race will get the job done. If a majority of adults on the planet participate in the referendum, and a strong majority of those who vote cast a ballot for the "yes" option, that is powerful enough to make it politically necessary for the DWG to be created and empowered to do its job.
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Q: How do I vote on whether I favor establishing the DWG, and how old must I be to vote?
A: You can vote in this first worldwide referendum right on your own computer if you have Internet access, or you can use a computer in a library or an Internet caf&#acute;. Go to the site www.voteworldgovernment.org, check "yes" or "no" on the ballot, fill in the info sheet and click on "submit." Or, if you don't have the Internet, or if you don't know how to operate a computer, you can contact one of our local Vote World Government vote collectors, if there is such a person in your area. To see if a "vote collector" lives near to your home, e-mail info@voteworldgovernment.org and ask us … and don't forget to tell us where you live, at least in general terms, like "the eastern end of New Delhi, India" or "40 km. west of Moscow, Russia," or "12 miles south of Chicago, USA." Please note that only your given name, country and vote ("yes" or "no") will appear on our site, not your age or your e-mail address or any other information.
A tentative decision has been made at Vote World Government that in order to vote, a person is required to be at least 16 years old. Naturally, people should only vote one time, and it is taken for granted that no one can be barred from voting, for any reason.
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Q: Is this first worldwide referendum being done with a secret ballot?
A: No, and it is important to realize why there is no secret ballot in this referendum. The short answer is that using a secret ballot would require a global enumeration prior to the referendum, and not only would that not be allowed by some national governments, it would cost billions of dollars … which we don't have.
Q: Will my vote be "certified"?
A: Some people want something in writing to certify that their vote has been received and included in the vote count. Each vote is numbered, and the number of your vote tells you how many people voted ahead of you, so it's a nice keepsake to have, especially if you were one of the first million or two to vote (these early participants are the ones who will get credit for giving this historic mission its first serious boost of momentum). You can create a printed proof of your vote by printing out the page where your vote is listed (Public Record) and numbered on this site.
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Q: Can I be a volunteer vote-collector?
A: To succeed, this initiative will need millions of vote collectors, meaning people who have computers with Internet access who will make the effort to bring the DWG referendum ballot to the six out of seven people on the planet who do not have computers. Those who don't own or have the use of a computer can team up with someone who does, and together they will get a lot more votes collected, and do it faster, and sooner. For more on volunteering, click here.
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Q: Why do we need a democratic world government anyway? What is it mandated to do? How would it fit with the United Nations?
A: With increasingly powerful and increasingly "available" WMD (meaning "weapons of mass destruction," a term for chemical, biological or nuclear weapons), war has become potentially omnicidal (meaning that all people on Earth could die from the use of such weapons). The rule of law is the only way to guarantee peace permanently, and making world law requires a world government. The DWG is not supposed to be meddling in the jurisdictions of nations, any more than national governments should meddle in areas that are the proper jurisdiction of provinces, states or municipalities (cities and towns). The DWG is there mainly to permanently prevent all war, by whatever means are necessary. It may be asked to do other things later, but for the foreseeable future, establishing and maintaining world peace is its job. And that job becomes a military operation only when peaceful efforts have produced failure, just like the peace of your community is kept far more by the acceptance of the legitimacy of government and a general respect for the law than it is by the police in an armed shootout.
As Albert Einstein said: "As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable. There is no salvation for civilization, or even the human race, other than the creation of a world government." The fact is that some national governments are not democratic, and will oppose the new world government. And even national governments that are democratic will be reluctant to surrender any amount of sovereignty to the DWG, but that is what must happen. To make things a little easier, it would be advantageous for the DWG to associate itself with the United Nations, to become a "third house" of the UN structure, the house of the people (the UN General Assembly is a house of national governments, and the Security Council is a house of privileged national governments). In the end, national governments must yield a certain amount of sovereignty to the DWG, and the DWG must work closely with the national governments, just as they (the national governments) have to work with their provincial, state and municipal governments. (If the UN is not interested in such an association, the DWG will have to proceed without such an attachment until such time as the Member States of the UN change their minds.)
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Q: What is this "corruption-proofing" system that was mentioned earlier? Wouldn't the establishment of a world government just invite more corruption on a grander scale?
A: The leadership of Vote World Government and the DWG (when its time comes) will be made free of corruption and free of lying using new techniques. In short, all DWG elected representatives (and all senior leaders of Vote World Government) must lead "recorded lives." They must be "wired" whenever they are on duty, meaning they have to wear a voice-activated tape recorder or the digital equivalent ... new technology is now emerging that does the job better and faster. (They do not need to wear it during private hours, of course, but they are also forbidden from discussing politics or business when not "on duty.") These tapes would be transcribed daily (by people, at first, but later by computer programs verified by people), and then posted verbatim on the Internet. There will be interested parties and "watchdog organizations" who will study these tapes, carefully. There is virtually no way any DWG elected representative (or Vote World Government official) can be corrupt and get away with it under this regime. All senior officials at Vote World Government are already doing this (although mostly through email records and logged chat dialogue at this early date), and the system works very well. We have to make certain the DWG is absolutely clean, and that legislation is in place to suspend or dismiss (a "recall" law) any DWG elected representative caught abusing the trust of the people of Earth. In short, there will either be a corruption-free DWG ... or none at all. In fact, we suspect the worldwide referendum for the DWG might even fail if it is not clear that we are interested only in a DWG in which there is no corruption at all — ever.
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Q: Who defines the borders or boundaries of a DWG constituency that would elect a representative?
A: The size of the DWG will depend on the size of a constituency. In 2014 (our target completion date) there will be an estimated seven billion people on Earth, so if one constituency were one billion people, there would only be seven elected representatives … clearly too few. If one constituency were only a million people, there would only be 7,000 elected representatives … surely too many. It has been tentatively decided that about 700 DWG constituencies of 10 million persons each would be about right. Deciding on borders of the constituencies presents a serious problem, so people and organizations will have to get involved in defining borders before the first election takes place, so that the first election can take place.
Please note: If this arrangement is the final system (meaning 700 constituencies, and each constituency having 10 million people in it), then obviously, large nations would have two or more constituencies within them — Canada would have three, the USA about 30 — and small nations of say seven million or less will have to share a constituency with citizens of a neighboring country. It is not up to us to figure out the most acceptable compromises. Where such problems exist, the local people will have to thrash that out for themselves, perhaps with some help from a "provisional" world government. (It is premature to worry about this at this time in any event.)
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Q: Will there be political parties in the DWG?
A: There is no way anyone can stop anyone else for running for the position of an elected representative at the DWG, so there will be members of political parties who seek this employment. However, the chance of any party attaining a majority in the DWG is extremely low; indeed, it would be practically impossible for any "party" to gain control of the DWG. Also, since the real political views of every elected representative in the DWG will be right out in the open for all to see under the "corruption-proofing" regime, belonging to a political party would seem like a fairly irrelevant detail of the elected representative's life. In summary, the DWG must mostly deal with practical problems, in practical ways, and party politics is likely best left to the governments of nations, provinces (or states, in th USA) and cities.
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Q: How is the campaign for the DWG going so far?
A: The goal is to establish the DWG by 2015, and there is no reason at this time to think that this timetable is not realistic. See progress reports or read our News.
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Q: How is the money situation at Vote World Government? How do I make a donation?
A: There is never enough money. See the latest financial report or make a donation.
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Q: Will there have to be global taxes to finance the DWG?
A: Yes, of course. All governments are financed by taxes, and that is as it should be, and must be. However, the DWG taxes would almost certainly be at a very low rate, and that should likely never change. Our best guess at this time is a tax rate of 0.5% of the gross income for individuals and corporations … half of 1%, or $5 for every $1,000 of gross income.
Also, it is thought that a different system of paying taxes should exist for the DWG. First, no one whose income is below a globally defined "poverty line" should be expected to pay any taxes at all. For the rest, meaning those whose personal income is above that poverty line, paying taxes to the DWG might be made voluntary! This means that no one will ever check anyone else's calculations, and non-payment of DWG taxes is a choice that any person or company can make. The "catch" is that all taxes that are paid to the DWG are posted on the Internet for all to see, and for a variety of reasons, most people who are financially doing okay or better-than-okay would not want to be known as global tax deadbeats, and businesses would not want to be seen as "corporate welfare bums," as the famous Canadian insult has it.
The addition of another layer of taxes will not be welcomed by people who already pay a lot of taxes at the national, provincial or state, and municipal levels, but the "voluntary" aspect of DWG taxation does provide for relief, a loophole (as well as enormous savings for the DWG, since if won't have to assess taxes, or double-check billions of tax returns).
In the final analysis, the total tax burden on those who pay taxes should go down considerably, not up, as a result of the advent of the DWG. It would cost a lot more if each city or town had to maintain a standing army to defend itself against all neighboring cities and towns. The overall tax burden on the individual and on business goes down by virtue of having a national government providing security, assuring that all cities and towns don't go to war against each other. Many national governments spend a lot more on "national defense" than on any other sector of government activity, including health care, education, etc. So if a DWG provides security to nations in the same way that national governments provide for the security for cities and towns, nations will be able to save enormous amounts by being largely relieved of that burden, so the national taxes of its citizens and companies could go down significantly once the DWG is in place, doing its job, and the actual security provided to that nation's citizens would go up, a lot. That's a great deal, all around.
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Q: What is the operational language of Vote World Government?
A: As mentioned in FAQ 1, at this time, Vote World Government is able to carry on its activities and communications only in English, and this is for purely practical reasons. English is already the language of international commerce, diplomacy, and science as well as the main language used on the Internet. However, all languages will be used as easily as we now use English once instantaneous translation computer programs (which are already in an advanced stage of development) have been perfected, and of course when the finances of Vote World Government permit us to expand our language capabilities, we will do that.
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Q: Will every constituency (of 10 million people) have an office of Vote World Government?
A: Yes, eventually (as finances and local interest permits), and each constituency office will be a support for the DWG elected representative, once elected. (Vote World Government, the non-profit organization, should be dissolved or perhaps turned over to the DWG after the election of the first group of official DWG representatives.)
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Q: Will people in each country construct a national Vote World Government office?
A: National offices are optional, if only because some constituencies will include more than just one nation, and a nation of 20 million or more will have more than one constituency in it. The relevance of national borders will not diminish to zero, but it will change.
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Q: Will there be local Vote World Government offices?
A: Many volunteer vote collectors (using a computer in their own home) will establish their homes as a local office for Vote World Government. Usually, it will take a small group to agree to have a local office, whereupon they would become a "chapter" or "branch" of Vote World Government.
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Q: Will there be voluntary DWG elected representatives in advance of the 1st official DWG election?
A: There may well emerge a "provisional DWG" made up of voluntary representatives to get things done, such as confirmation of how many constituencies there should be and a similar confirmation of the borders of those constituencies before the first DWG election (planned tentatively for 2015).
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Q: Will constituency offices do more than coordinate the collection of votes for the world referendum?
A: The constituency offices will likely vary in the roles they play, but there will always be lots of work that needs to be done.
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Q: Is there any paying work with Vote World Government?
A: Not yet, but it is expected that the organization will eventually be hiring many people, and it will first hire those who contributed the most as volunteers.
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Q: Would there have to be a Constitution of Earth?
A: A founding document like a Constitution of Earth is necessary eventually, but the best way of doing this is not yet certain. (It will likely have to be done by the DWG representatives, once they are elected.)
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Q: Would a 2nd worldwide referendum be needed to ratify a Constitution of Earth.
A: Yes, a second world referendum will be needed for this purpose, and a secret ballot would be needed (or at least preferred) for this process.
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Q: When we get to actually electing elected representatives to the DWG, will we need to use a secret ballot?
A: Yes, for DWG elections, a secret ballot must be used, because that is one of the pillars of any effective democracy. (It is possible that by the time that first real election rolls around in 2015 or whenever, there will be ironclad ways to prevent multiple voting without the expense and trouble of a global enumeration.)
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Q: How is "corruption proofing" done?
A: The last thing we need is a world government that is prone or vulnerable to corruption and to abuse of power, as happens so often in national governments or other lower-level governments. In fact, while we can survive such crimes at lower levels, there is a serious possibility that corruption at the global level could be omnicidal (a fairly new word meaning "the killing of everyone")! Therefore, we at Vote World Government have concluded that there is no choice but to make sure that a world government is never corrupted. Fortunately, this is not too difficult to do, using available technology and common sense.
Elected representatives at the world government will have to lead "recorded lives." They must be "wired" whenever they are on duty, meaning they have to wear a voice-activated tape recorder or the digital equivalent of same. (They do not need to wear it during any private hours, of course, but these people are forbidden to discuss politics or business when not on duty.) All tapes will be transcribed daily, then posted publicly on the Internet. There will be interested parties and "watchdog" organizations who will study these tapes or transcriptions-carefully.
There is no way elected representatives can be corrupt and get away with it under this kind of regime. All senior officials at Vote World Government are already doing this mostly by preserving emails and logging chat among the Board members for later public access, and the system works well. We must not only make sure the world government is clean, permanently, we must make sure that legislation is in place providing for the recall of any DWG representative caught abusing the trust of the people of the Earth. In short, based on past human experience and the total disaster that a corrupt world government would be for everyone, we think there is going to be a completely corruption-proofed world government, or none at all. In fact, it is quite possible that our world referendum would fail if it were not clear that we, the people, know how to "corruption-proof" the world government, and that we will take whatever measures are required to assure that it starts that way and stays that way, forever.
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Q: Will Vote World Government workers lead recorded lives?
A: All senior officials at Vote World Government must live recorded lives. The costs of the verification process will be an issue, but it can be dealt with fairly, similar to the NFL system to review video of football plays … anyone suspecting a "foul" or incorrect call can ask for a review, but there will have to be provisions to discourage a flood of frivolous challenges.
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Q: Would we need a physical headquarters for the DWG?
A: It is expected that the DWG will not need a physical headquarters, since representatives elected to the DWG can meet in the open on the Internet. After all, their meetings and deliberations are set up to be 100% transparent, and a meeting out in the open on the Internet is surely the best way to accomplish this goal.
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Q: Is it possible that the DWG may want to have a physical headquarters of its own some day?
A: Yes, at some point in the future, when revenues permit, the DWG may choose to establish a physical headquarters, but that decision is best left to the DWG elected representatives, once they are elected and the DWG officially exists.
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Q: Can the DWG make laws in any area of life at all?
A: The DWG will have a specific jurisdiction, like any government. Its main purpose is to provide security for all people, mostly against war. There will be jurisdictional conflicts with lower levels of government, but such is the messiness of democracy.
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Q: How do human rights fit into all this?
A: The UN has made progress on paper, with its Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other covenants, but these rights aren't often enforced. The first human right is our right to life, as individuals and as a species. This right must be protected by the DWG, and war (especially with WMD, weapons of mass destruction) is the main threat to our species' right to life.
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Q: How can the DWG enforce any world law?
A: Most of the usefulness of world law will come from the respect it has in the minds of the people, but this would not exist if there was no possibility of a punishment for breaking the law. For deliberate offenses, and when all else fails, enforcement (as the word implies) can involve the use of "force," but using the strictest possible definition of "reasonable force," and with an eye out at all times for false claims of self-defense, which has proven to be a very common ruse in human history. A global military establishment must be set up and the armed forces of nations will have to defer to the DWG armed forces, or be compelled to do so. And of course the likelihood is that for the foreseeable future, much if not most of the DWG military force will be made up of components of the military establishments of nation states, the way UN peacekeeping missions are constituted now.
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Q: Would religious freedom be protected by the DWG?
A: All people must be free to believe whatever they wish, but religious belief can't ever be used as a reason to use violence upon others. The link between religious belief and violence is found throughout history, and it must be severed, permanently.
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Q: What would be the main thrust of world law?
A: Our power to do harm is growing so fast that soon almost anyone will be able to do a great harm. It is possible that a general instruction to "do no harm" will anchor world law.
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Q: How does terrorism get eliminated in all this?
A: As the old saying goes, "one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist." Human beings are very clever when it comes to rationalizing the use of force, and it is extremely regrettable that so many people accept the rationalizations that are made on their behalf. As with domestic law in virtually all countries, resolving difficulties through violence is going to be against world law, and to enforce this, legal and non-violent methods must be put in place and made to work for the kinds of problems that previously would give rise to war or terrorism. There is another powerful saying that no one seems able to trace back to a source: "There is enough bad in people to make law necessary, and enough good in people to make law workable." If the problems that give rise to terrorism are not resolved by legal means, they will prompt continuing violence. If violence is allowed to succeed anywhere and there arise situations where reason and negotiation are rejected as the path to conflict resolution, those who want what they want and care nothing for the rest of humanity will have to be brought under control by police means, with some controlled violence. Needless to say, this must be done in the name of the DWG and of the human race, and only "reasonable force" will be tolerated in pursuit of DWG goals. That's how it is supposed to work at the local level, with local police, but at the global level, the complete openness should always make very sure that power is not ever abused, or overused, or used prematurely, etc.
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Q: What kinds of volunteer activities could a person do to help move this process along more quickly?
A: There are hundreds and even thousands of ideas on this. You can volunteer to be a vote collector, or you can team up with a vote collector and help him or her bring up the vote count. You can print off the poster and put it up anywhere that it's legal to do so (remember, do no harm to walls or anything else). You can try to get the people where you work or worship to endorse the DWG project. You can do a mini-referendum in your family or school or office or plant so that everyone, including those who do not have a computer, can vote. You can write letters to the local paper to be sure everyone knows why it is important for them to vote. You can try to reason with the people who will oppose the DWG idea. Click here to see the growing list of ideas.
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Q: Who supports this project?
A: We have no doubt that this project will be supported by individuals and organizations of every kind, throughout the world, by governments (nations, provinces, city/town councils, etc.), non-governmental organizations, Nobel Laureates, religions (churches, mosques, synagogues, etc.), unions (locals, regional councils, national unions, etc.), political parties (local, regional and national), service clubs, individual politicians at all levels, famous entertainers, famous sports figures, student organizations (local, regional or national) , media organizations (local, regional or national), companies, and more (individuals, families, sports teams, etc.). The only thing is, most of these individuals and organizations haven't heard of this initiative yet because this campaign is brand new (our site went "live" in August of 2004). Individuals and institutions haven't been asked to declare themselves in support of this urgent goal and this reasonable approach, so our volunteers should get busy and collect motions of support or letters of support from such individuals and organizations. Click here to see the overall list. When some time has passed and some endorsements have come in, you will be able to view the list by date (where the endorsements are presented in the order in which these new supporters have announced their support) or by type of organization (such as churches, unions, city councils, etc.).
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