Position IV: Wild Card

 Elections Around the World 

With election season in full swing here in the United States, it helps bring awareness to a global perspective on voting. With 167 countries now having a democratic form of government, its brings a better appreciation for how wide spread democracy has become. 

The Democratic Index did a study in 2019 to find out of the 167  countries, which ones had the best example of democracy. According to them, the top five countries, in order, are:

• Norway

• Iceland

• Sweden

• New Zealand

• Finland

A defining factor of a democracy is the ability to give the people a say in their government, and a crucial part of how that is achieved is through elections. The ability to give the people the choice as to who they want running their government and speaking for them. Since Norway is ranked the best democracy in the world for the past 6 years, what is it about their elections and systems that outshines every one else? 

Norway

Norway's electoral system is a direct election with proportional representation. This means the people vote directly for representatives by giving their vote to an electoral list. Norway has 19 regions with officials holding 19 seats each representing their given area. In order to vote, you must be a citizen on Norway, must be 18, and must be registered by the proper date prior to the election being held. 

When looking at the facts, Norway does not sound so different than the United states. Direct voting with a representation system that is very similar to the electoral college, so what is the major difference? Why is Norway considered the best, and the United States was bumped down to flawed democracy according to the Economist Intelligent Unit? 

"The report (Economist Intelligent Unit) also downgraded the United States from a "full democracy" to a "flawed democracy" — placing it alongside countries such as India, Argentina and Colombia. The demotion was linked to American voters losing trust in their own political institutions and the role of big-money lobbying." Source. 

When taking a closer inspection, it is not the laws that separate the two, but the faith of the people in their own government. How the election is held is not what makes Norway stand out, but the accountability of the elected officials and obligation of those running for office to ensure that the people of Norway know their voice matters. 

According to NBS, they discovered it was ingrained in the culture of Norwegians and the faith they have in their vote that made the difference. "Norway has such a good system, so no one feels left out and no one feels misunderstood. Everybody knows their voice will be heard." Source. The population of Norway has a registration of 78% voters which is already 20% higher than the U.S. population. This includes the younger demographic who do not share the same disgruntled view on voting as the general youth in America share. Norwegians also feel their politicians are people not elitists who are out of touch with the common man. Instead, they feel their politicians are relatable and in turn this makes them proud to have a voice. 

It is not the technicalities of the system that make it stand out, but the integrity of the system. While the United States follows the same general principles, it is the distrust and lack of integrity that has turned the American people off to the idea of voting or even having faith in the government. While over in Norway, the people of all ages are enthusiastic to participate in their government local or national. 

Worldwide Elections in 2020

Everyone has felt the effects of 2020. The global pandemic has made it so the whole world was turned on its side, and most everything had to be evaluated and revamped. This included how elections were held. While the last thing that needed to happen was to silence the voice of the people during a crisis like this, the safety issues could not be ignored. Countries around the world took several approaches to how they held elections this year. 

Link

While it is encouraging to see how across the globe countries persevered to ensure the elections still took place, it is equally interesting to see the trial ad error process. While no one had a system to reference, as this is complete new global adversary, the variety of approaches was educational to see which ones were successful and which ones were not.

By looking at other countries, we can learn how to better ourselves. Even something as simple as having a better mail in system to not lose votes (as what Poland faced as well as our own mail in issues this time around). We as Americans can learn by example how to better our democracy and give it back to the people as it was intended. 17 year old Norwegian citizen, Mattias Dysthe Lyngstad was quoted, "He thinks the U.S. can learn from his country's cordial culture. "In United States, you have such a different system of democracy — there's a lot of money involved and it's a lot about how big a person you are and if you're important, or whatever," he says. "But in Norway we try to keep it so the politicians don't earn that much money. You do it because you care about the country and the future." Source.