What I’d like you to expand on is what you would do if your test excluded the majority- that’s when it might become politically difficult for the test to survive.

I am genuinely not mocking you at all!

Now we’re getting there. Instead of drawing arbitrary lines between voters and non-voters, it would be better to address the political and anti-historical agenda in schools, and the lamentable state of the Press and broadcast media (ignorantification at the tabloid end, sciolism at the broadsheet end).

We needn’t take extremes and mock the idea of having a test. While political tests such as the Labour citizenship simply reflect the state of mind of Brownians, there are many entry tests to institutions which are rational and probing but not beyond a reasonable level. My entry test to the civil service [I understand it is a joke now] was quite searching and yet not impossible.

The aim of the voting test is not political – it’s to check whether there is any knowledge base at all about this country’s past or whether it is only about Posh and Becks.

Incidentally how would you deal with the issue of the majority being ignorant James (if they were), if they were would they have the right to throw out the knowledgable minority or would they have to acquire knowledge that some of them don’t want to do so?

James,

And would the tests be about real world stuff like balancing a chequebook or just how to make sure that commas were in the right place. The questions should reflect real world issues and not just a list of stupid questions like the citizenship one. It should have relevance to what is going on and show an understanding that when you vote for X then Y will be the payment. Not like California where they can vote for low taxes but big state benefits.

It would be interesting seeing what you think should be in such a test.

James Higham
November 24, 2009 at 16:30 (Edit)

This is too big a topic – this will be part three.

Will they be varied giving everyone a chance to have some knowledge in at least some of the areas?

Taking a subversive look at the road to political success, the film lampoons politicians and the suspiciously ambitious as Rimmer manipulates, cheats and murders his way to the top of his profession and eventually to the head of all government: President of Great Britain. His ‘charisma-heavy’, ‘policy-light’ style of leadership, through relentless opinion polls, referenda and underhand electoral practices, somehow wins the hearts of the nation – at the expense of the country.

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/film/dvd/The-Rise-and-Rise-of-Michael-Rimmer/