One Man One Vote (OMOV) Is Simply The Right Thing To Do

Aside from issues operating on a microlevel, the concept of One Man One Vote (OMOV) addresses a critical flaw within our organization's attempt to mimic the organizational structure of the United States.

Our country has used representative democracy as a necessity due to the same reasons any other entity uses it: the cost of keeping all interested parties informed has been too high for individuals to willingly pay and to avoid the high cost of inactivity when communications are not readily available.

The argument can be made that through the internet things are different, but our fellow citizens have not reached the mindset of being willing to part with voting via hardcopy ballots and voting through the internet or some other technological method of voting.

As Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and other organizations have attempted to emulate America's form of representative democracy, one critical component included with the America's form of representative democracy has been woefully omitted.

Each state as a geographical entity and intermediate level has a governor that is voted upon and consequently selected by the residents of that state and geographical area.

The similar role and position within our Fraternity is that of a provincial polemarch who is selected by the Grand Polemarch (who occupies a role and position similar to that of the President of the United States of America).

Some have given their opinion that it is strategically weak to include electing provincial polemarchs as a reason to justify supporting OMOV, but whether one argument is the chicken or the egg of the other is irrelevant.

One cannot be used to exclude the other. You cannot continually support the current organizational structure or claim that we operate under a representative form of democracy as long as the provincial polemarch are not voted upon by Brothers of the reflected province.

What kind of form of democracy do we have therefore one may ask?

I do not know and when one of us finds the answer, we should inform the other;)

A few forms of government that come to mind which do not allow voting on all levels include a theocracy and a dictatorship.

Members of a theocratic governmental structure fully accept the theological doctrine and essentially believe that their leaders are chosen by God as revealed to man.

With the amount of Brothers who have various religious beliefs, backgrounds, and current practices, no one to my knowledge has ever attempted to put a specific theological spin within modern officers and appointed positions.

We have not yet seen the wave of evangelical Christians or another similar or even opposing set of values fully or partially sweep through Kappa Alpha Psi.

Within a dictatorship, no one has the power or capacity to openly argue or disagree with their leadership and how they are placed into power.

As a result, I will have to conclude that Kappa Alpha Psi operates with a hybrid governmental structure unconsciously while our members currently accept the belief that provincial polemarchs are chosen by God as revealed to the Grand Polemarch.

As a minister, I believe the Holy Bible where it states that all power comes from God.

Representative democracies, theocracies, and dictatorships have to come from God as a result on initial deduction but even this line of thinking is wrong.

The places where it seems to appear that God is not in control are the places where someone has either consciously chosen not to follow God or has not been informed that there is a God and that He has a better way of living and being organized.

More than likely, our Bond has gotten comfortable with the past efficiencies of the form of representative democracy practiced and the appointment of provincial polemarchs.

Now through the power of the same God, the internet and other tools have been created to allow a more perfect form of government to be observed, studied, implemented, and practiced.

The bottom line is that to state that we have a perfect form of representative democracy practiced is faulty.

To more closely follow the example of America, we must allow our provincial polemarchs to be voted upon by the members of the province, and allow OMOV to become a reality.

Otherwise, we do not have the same degree of checks and balances as found within the US Constitution and other historical documents that have served to guide our country.

Right now, provincial polemarchs are really closer to presidential appointed judges at the Supreme Court and lower and regional federal courts.

But even these appointees have to be confirmed or the president places them into power during periods where the congress is not in session or available.

Has our current form of representative democracy been consciously and fully accepted as implying that our congress (chapter delegates currently and entire Body eventually) is not in session or unavailable?

I say that the Bond is in session and is available!!

To have a province polemarch serve as both a federal (provincial) judge and a congressional legislator is clearly a break away from the form of representative democracy practiced by America.

Again, OMOV and/or the election of provincial polemarchs must become a part of the annual fabric of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. whether they are implemented at the same time or one occurs before the other.

Yours in the Bond!