Dambisa Moyo tore into the Donald Trump and Brexit votes claiming they have ‘tested the limits of people’s faith in democracy’
Britons should have to pass a general knowledge test before they are allowed to vote, an ex Goldman Sachs banker has said.
Dambisa Moyo tore into the Donald Trump and Brexit votes claiming they have ‘tested the limits of people’s faith in democracy’.
She said that people should be forced to sit Government-backed tests before they are allowed near a ballot box as the right to vote ‘has to be earned’.
And she said MPs must have to prove they have career experience before they are allowed to stand for Parliament, while their pay should be linked to how well the country is performing.
The economist claimed the serious curtails to people’s democratic rights are needed because fake news and social media are skewing politics.
Writing in The Guardian, she said: I have been examining electoral systems across the world.
‘In many democracies, including the US and UK, migrants are required to pass government-sanctioned civic tests in order to gain citizenship.
‘So, in this vein, why not give all voters a test of their knowledge? This would ensure minimum standards that should lead to higher-quality decision-making by the electorate.
‘The message this would send is that voting is not just a right, but one that has to be earned. Such testing would not only lead to a better-informed electorate, but also to voters who are more actively engaged.’
She admitted that efforts would need to be made to stop the test being skewed to discriminate against less educated people.
‘To that end, the knowledge needed should be part of the core curriculum, with young people tested in their final year of secondary education’, she added.
‘Governments could also organise tests for those over school age.’
And she also called for would-be MPs to have to prove they are worthy of a place in Parliament by passing career tests.
She said: ‘One approach is to move away from the career politician model by setting minimum experience requirements for politicians….
‘The process for selecting candidates could be altered to discriminate against someone seeking to enter parliament after five years as a political researcher.
‘It would instead favour candidates with a wider range of experience outside politics and a good knowledge of the broader workings of the economy in key sectors such as business, agriculture, education and healthcare.’
Dambisa Moyo attacked voters for backing Donald Trump (pictured yesterday in Eikhart Indiana) and said democracy must be overhauled in the wake of his election
The economist said the decision to back Brexit (pictured Boris Johnson on the campaign trail for the Leave campaign in 2016) showed how the level of political debate had sunk
And she said that MPs’ pay should be linked to the performance of a country, for example how well the economy is doing.
She said: ‘A further move to improve credibility could be to link politicians’ pay to the broader progress of the country.
‘MPs or senators could be rewarded on how the country performs in key areas. In this way, voters would be better able to judge politicians come election time.’
She said that these reforms may not have stopped voters backing Brexit or Mr Trump.
Bit she insisted the debate would have been better.
She said: ‘First, voters would have witnessed a higher-quality debate. Second, the candidates would have been more vigorously vetted.
‘Third, voters would have been given more objective information, subject to scrutiny and minimum standards.
This in turn would have led to wider acceptance of the result.
‘The democratic system itself would be deemed legitimate, and elected leaders would then be free to do their work, rather than being subjected to a relentless barrage of questions around their credibility.
‘In practice, while countries may not be able to adopt all these ideas, taking on at least some will move their democracy in a better direction.’
Ms Moyo spent eight years working at Goldman Sachs and two years at the World Bank.