Democracy never left residential college elections

During the recent ASG senator elections, some were quick to use the word “undemocratic” when referring to the Residential College Board’s electoral system.

Monday’s editorial, “ASG democracy returns to dorms,” fell along these lines but was founded on misunderstanding. Since the restructuring of the Senate last year, RCB’s procedures have been and will continue to be democratic.

The biggest problem with the editorial is its statement that “last year, those who lived in … residential colleges had no vote at all.” This is completely untrue. While there was no uniform system for holding primary elections, as there was this year, most residential colleges held their own internal election. Other colleges held an election among members of the executive board, who themselves are popularly elected.

The editorial suggests that democracy simply consists of letting people vote. But democracy also hinges upon the ideas that voters are informed and that those who do vote are representative of those being represented as a whole.

Students who have just arrived on campus hardly have time to meet people in their own dorms, let alone from other dorms. Yet every fall, our 11 residential colleges – which range in size from 39 residents in CCS to 282 residents in Willard – must elect five senators to represent all 1,400 of us. A massive general election would hardly be fair.

The current system – a primary election within every college followed by another election among members of the Residential College Board, which includes the democratically elected presidents of the 11 residential colleges – is both democratic and representative. Contrary to the arguments of The Daily’s editorial, it is hardly different from what took place last year.

If we are to reform a system, it is crucial to have an informed understanding of the system before hastily branding it as undemocratic.