A system (with the previously defined characteristics) is the basis, while devising different strategies is the responsibility of the leadership. So, the selection of commanding authority is a matter of competence and sincerity rather than changing the basis for personal interests (the process that is dominant in a non-ideal society and which is the driving cause of power struggle in the society). This means that democracy is not the direct selection of the leadership at higher levels by the people at the lower stratification levels of the society, nor the selection of representatives from land-area-based constituencies. To gain a deep knowledge of real democracy, let us consider a model called “Indirect Competence-based Selection” (ICS).
It is a strategy for the selection of commanding authority based on competency. What does this mean? To provide a context, let’s take an example: some local farmers gathered at a place to discuss some regulatory issues regarding land limitation and water channel distribution. The clash of interests was with farmers of a nearby locality. They agreed to nominate a person who could negotiate on their behalf. What do you think: would it be better to select someone from another occupation (craftsman, labourer, doctor etc.) who has neither deep knowledge of the issue nor any experience in this regard, or someone of the same occupation with a high level of competence and experience in the field? No doubt, the second case is more efficient or stronger, even if the majority of farmers are selecting otherwise (this would be due to personal or priority reasons rather than fact-based ones). This competence is the basis of ICS (note that competence is given priority rather than personal selection) (in an ideal society, the majority opinion is always fact-based, i.e. far from personal interest, while in the non-ideal case, there can be significant division, but still the priority must be given to competence and sincerity). In a non-ideal society, this model faces challenges mainly due to power struggle (but is still better than the current established concept of democracy, because there are tremendous loopholes in the system we witness today, and thus a great compromise in the efficiency is the result), while its true spirit is evident in an ideal society (being a model, we will assume this situation, i.e. the ideal one). (The steps of this selection, from the sub-sectors of a county up to the head of the state, are shown in the life story of Ahmad below.) (In practice, competence is a person’s wisdom that proves itself over a long period, i.e. it is judged by the output of his decisions and by his knowledge of the field, which the peers of the same field are best placed to assess.)
From Power Struggle and Its Prevention.
