Imagine an election cycle without political rancor, campaigns, or nominations. Instead, everyone is eligible to serve in office and free to vote their conscious in secret.
In celebration of Constitution Day, Dr. Joseph Weixelman, retired professor of history at Wayne State College, will present “An Alternative to Political Parties” at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, in Connell Hall, room 131, on campus. Constitution Day commemorates the 1787 signing of the most influential document in United States history. The day also honors all U.S.-born or naturalized citizens. The presentation is sponsored by Phi Alpha Theta, Wayne State’s history honor society.
“The Constitution was written without parties in mind,” says Weixelman. “The Founding Fathers did not believe political parties were good for democracy. My presentation discusses how parties came about and how the Constitution was bent to accommodate them.”
Weixelman proposes an alternative process where people vote for the person or persons with the best qualifications. The name or names selected most frequently, become a delegate for the next voting round. “Depending upon whether the office is local, statewide, or national, the number of rounds increases to ensure delegates represent an appropriate size region,” he explains.
“Lest it be thought this be a utopian system, this is exactly how the Bahá’í world, with 5 to 8 million members, elects local and national assemblies, and the Universal House of Justice,” said Weixelman. “The Universal House of Justice leads the Bahá’í world much like the pope leads the Catholic world, however in a very democratic way. I believe this is exactly how the Founding Fathers wanted the Electoral College to work.”
Weixelman is a member of Western History Association, National Council on Public History, American Historical Association, and Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. He has traveled extensively through the Holy Land, Europe, Northwestern South America, and North America.
Weixelman earned his bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Colorado-Boulder, his master’s degree in History from Montana State University in Bozeman, and his Ph.D. in History from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
