User:Nscwikiedt/Zoecracy

Zoecracy

Zoecracy is a political form of democratic government carried out by elected representatives of the people that is more inclusive of nature than democracy is capable of being. The term is derived from the Greek words: zoe "life" and kratos "power" and means the 'rule of life'. As of 2010, zoecracy has not been established as a form of government in any country.

Throughout the 21^st century, mankind is likely to experience a rapid demise of the environment and its ecological fundamentals due to human activity. Therefore, following on the traditions of democracy, and in full view of the whole of the natural world, it is imperative to extend democratic representation to include the rest of life. Mother Nature must no longer be taken for granted and her rights must be legally acknowledged.

Zoecracy is an evolved form of democracy such that the rest of life is no longer disenfranchised within human forms of government. In this way, zoecracy is truly in the long-term interests of humans for generations unborn. Nature itself must be given meaningful representation in the process of passing legislation that affects it.

Great democracies of the world, such as India, can achieve zoecracy by amending their constitutions to provide non-human life absolute voting rights over a certain percentage or "block vote" of the total legislative vote. One suggestion is that non-human life be given a right to one third (let's agree 34%) of the total vote which would be cast in its favour. 34%, while under-representing nature, may be the most that can be achieved in the 21^st century in view of human nature since it is humans who must amend their constitutions to share governance in this way.

How zoecracy could function

Similar to how the justices of a supreme court are nominated and confirmed through the legislative process, the members of a special judicial committee would be selected to serve unlimited terms. This committee would deliberate and decide if a bill to be presented before the legislature impacts the environment. The committee could consist of 7 or 9 members, each of whom are selected based on their legal and environmental credentials.

The interposition of this environmental committee into the legislative process may be more acceptable to mainstream voters if the committee members are chosen in a manner to which voters are accustomed, such as described above. Consequently, the mainstream electorate would be satisfied that such an approach would rule out the undue influence of extremist views whether for or against redressing these natural rights. In view of this broad based acceptance, a constitutional amendment to adopt zoecracy could be passed more easily and particularly in countries that already have significant green party representation.

If the judicial committee decides that a bill impacts the environment, then an automatic block vote of 34% of the total vote is cast in favour of the environmental position. The remaining 66% of the vote is entirely under the control of the legislators.

Examples of legislation

Clear examples of legislation that impact the environment are those bearing on natural resources, water and land use, pollution and waste, energy, and biotechnology. Other and sometimes less clear examples of legislation are those concerned with transportation, agriculture, commerce, and recreation. Examples of legislation least likely to be under the purview of the judicial committee are those on human rights, family, education, media, labour, most types of crime, banking & finance, many types of technology, and medicine.

Casting votes

For example, if a legislative assembly has 100 members and a bill has received the 34% block of votes, then each of the 100 legislators' votes would have an effective strength of two thirds of a vote that altogether would make up the remaining 66% of the total assembly vote.

If our example of 100 legislators is equally divided over a piece of legislation, the bill could receive 50 two-thirds yea votes and 50 two-thirds nay votes plus the block vote of 34 votes for passage by a total of 67 (33 + 34) yea votes to 33 nay votes.

Legislation subject to the rule of zoecracy can help mankind establish an honourable and sustainable future with nature.

See Also

• Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance
• Conservation movement
• Democracy
• Democratization
• Ecological humanities
• Environmental governance
• Environmental justice
• Environmentalism
• Governance
• Green party
• Green politics
• Political ecology

Further Reading:

1) Chang, Y. and Cho, T, 2005-04-07. "Democracy and the Environment: The Effect of Democratization on Environmental Outcomes in Asian Countries" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL.

2) Shrader-Frechette K. S., 2002. “Environmental Justice: Creating Equality, Reclaiming Democracy” 288pp New York, NY: Oxford University Press

3) Nordquist, M., 2008-04-03. "A Cosmopolitical Proposal: Towards the Democratic Composition and Participation of Environments" Paper resented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Annual National Conference, Palmer House Hotel, Hilton, Chicago, IL., Online 2010-06-06 available from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p265793_index.html

4) Sidaway, R., 2005. “Resolving Environmental Disputes: From Conflict to Consensus” 320pp London: Earthscan

5) Winslow, M., 2005. “Is Democracy Good for the Environment?” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Volume 48, Number 5, pp. 771-783(13). DOI: 10.1080/09640560500183074