I've worked in Parliament and what surprised me the most is that the large majority of representatives were hardworking and dedicated. Some were very bright and some even thoughtful. I disagreed with the vast majority of what they thought and did - but increasingly I came to the conclusion that it wasn't the quality of the individuals but the system they operated under. There are a number of defects that can be pointed to - lack of accountability; the time frames in which they operate (short term); the role of lobbying and big money; the underlying belief that the economy is the sum total of society. Citizen based Parliament is enormously appealing but currently both an impossibility and unworkable...I think we need to accept that the leaders we get reflect the society we've allowed to develop around us. Ill, greedy, stupid and a failure. Our rethinking needs to go much deeper.

What concerns me, next, is that it is possible to accept everything you say about politicians, and still find the system totally unacceptable.

>>...the large majority of representatives were hardworking and dedicated. Some were very bright and some even thoughtful<<

If we have dedicated and hard working people in parliament, why are they so much on the nose? According to successive Morgan polls, their ethical standards are judged to equate with journalists, car salespeople and advertising executives.

You accurately describe the fundamental flaws...

>>There are a number of defects that can be pointed to - lack of accountability; the time frames in which they operate (short term); the role of lobbying and big money; the underlying belief that the economy is the sum total of society.<<

...and I cannot help but agree with your summary:

>>I think we need to accept that the leaders we get reflect the society we've allowed to develop around us. Ill, greedy, stupid and a failure.<<

Would it not therefore be a really positive - and simple - start, to introduce a level of individual accountability?

Simply stated, we record all commitments made by the candidates at polling time, and publish them after the individual is elected. Those that are breached attract specific punishment.

This is not a form of "Citizen based Parliament", but an attempt to introduce some reality into the process. Right now, a voter has no power at all, given that every single promise made before an election may be broken with impunity.

Which makes a mockery of the entire democratic process.

Accountability for politicians. It isn't hard to understand.

It would also be remarkably simple to implement.

In administrative law, we have "accountability" - in the parliamentary process this takes the form of senate committees, various tribunals, and the activities of the Auditor General and the like. In short, the accountability rests with those involved in the "system" in short, the people in the system are the ones investigating the system. How many of us have voted in a "local member" believing that they would properly represent the issues that were important to us, only to see the blind allegiance to the "party line"? We are fundamentally ripped off at every election really. Performance-based pay for politicians,anyone?