Reform and accountability-for real

Would you vote for Jesse Longoria again? Given the choice, would you have returned the same officers to the DSG executive board? How about your senators? Have they earned the spot you gave them?

In the early stages of the DSG election season, I heard from almost every candidate as they vied for the endorsement of the College Republicans and the Duke Political Union. As the candidates one by one gave their three-minute spiels, certain patterns emerged from the rhetoric. I think I heard the words "reform" and "accountability" most of all.

Generally, those are words I like. DSG is certainly in need of reform in many ways. Even a cursory glance at the organization shows it to be all but defunct. Nobody knows what, if anything, our student government is up to.

Here's a quick quiz: What were DSG's top three priorities for the last year? If you can't answer, don't feel bad because you're not alone. If they didn't control the purse strings of nearly all student groups, the sole official representative body of students would have long faded into obscurity. Obviously, reform is something we should be going for.

Accountability is a nice thought, too. If you ever look at the DSG website, dsg.duke.edu, you'll notice that the only useful information anywhere on the main page tells you how to run for something. To be sure, there's a "recent news" section, but if you look closely, you'll notice the most "recent" entry is dated September of last year.

Now, to be fair, many of the incoming officers have noticed these same issues and resolved to do something about them. One suggestion I've heard is an oversight committee to keep senators on task. As an openly declared conservative and hater of big government, I'm all too happy to point out the flaw in this idea: you can't trust an inefficient government to watch over itself. The malaise of the general body could easily spread to any such committee, meanwhile rewarding another round of slackers with resume padding.

Another idea to hold senators accountable is an online voting record, where students can check to see where their senators stood on various issues. Now, that's all well and good: transparency is always preferable, and I'm a bit surprised that such a system hasn't been put in place already. The problem is, even if a senator's record infuriates his or her constituency (though it's hard to imagine such a record) the students would have no recourse. It's a step in the right direction, but it's not true accountability.

So what's the best way for us to hold DSG accountable? I think we first need to look at the position of senator itself. In all honesty, Duke isn't so large as to require actual representative democracy. There is, however, a need for a bureaucracy to oversee the day-to-day dealings of the organization, as well as to specialize in different areas of DSG involvement. So what's the solution? First, we declare every single student a full voting senator in DSG. Second, we elect committeemen (I would say committeepersons, but I refuse to) to serve under the various executive officers.

I believe that this arrangement would have several beneficial effects. First, those who attend and vote at DSG meetings would be only those truly interested in the goings on of the student government, not resume stuffers. Second, genuinely concerned students would no longer be kept out of office simply because they were unable to come up with the catchy slogan or PhotoShopped picture necessary to win an election. Finally, controversial issues, should they arise, would motivate students to involve themselves actively, rather than just rhetorically.

My second proposed reform is just as unusual, but also just as effective: hold a second election at the end of the first semester. Now, I hate staring at these dumb campaign flyers as much as you do, but think about how things might have turned out differently if our slate of officers knew they could been shipped out with 2005. The big difference with these set of elections is that the board would have to justify holding on to the positions they already have, meaning they'd need some sort of record to stand on. That's what true accountability looks like.

Would you vote for Jesse Longoria again? Up to you. But wouldn't it would be nice to have the choice?

Oliver Sherouse is a Trinity freshman. This is his final column.

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