General Basic Proposition

We believe that the majority of people in New Zealand believe in and advocate democracy as a form of government. Our concept of democracy is that the people must decide the over-all objectives of government by making the value-judgments associated with government. It is the job of the political organizations and experts to present the issues to the electorate in a form in which the issues of Fact are clear cut. The electorate is able then to decide between proferred over-all policies and objectives as a matter of individual conscience, belief and value judgment. This takes government out of the realm of "decision by the experts" in whose hands administrative decisions must largely be left and places the over-all guidance regarding general basic policy, a matter in which no expert knowledge is required—with the people. We consider that at present the political processes in this country are not presenting issues in a suitable form and the following frequently expressed criticisms illustrate, and largely result from this failure.