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Geniocracy is the framework for a
system of government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
which was first proposed by
Raël Raël (born Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon, 30 September 1946)Cult leader Raël ...
(leader of the International Raëlian Movement) in 1977 and which advocates a certain minimal criterion of intelligence for political candidates and also the electorate.Raël,
Geniocracy
''. ''Nova Distribution'', 2008.


Definition

The term ''geniocracy'' comes from the word ''
genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...
'', and describes a system that is designed to select for
intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can ...
and compassion as the primary factors for governance. While having a democratic electoral apparatus, it differs from traditional
liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...
by instead suggesting that candidates for office and the body electorate should meet a certain minimal criterion of problem-solving or creative intelligence. The thresholds proposed by the Raëlians are 50% above the mean for an electoral candidate and 10% above the mean for an elector.


Justifying the method of selection

This method of selectivity is deliberate so as to address what the concept considers to be flaws in the current systems of
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...
. The primary object of criticism is the inability of majoritarian consensus to provide a reasonable platform for intelligent decision-making for the purpose of solving problems permanently. Geniocracy's criticism of this system is that the institutions of democracy become more concerned with appealing to popular consensus through emotive issues than they are in making long-term critical decisions, especially those that may involve issues that are not immediately relevant to the electorate. It asserts that political mandate is something that is far too important to simply leave to popularity, and asserts that the critical decision-making that is required for government, especially in a world of
globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
, cannot be based upon criteria of emotive or popular decision-making. In this respect, geniocracy derides liberal democracy as a form of " mediocracy". In a geniocracy, Earth would be ruled by a worldwide geniocratic government.Sitting down with Raelians, awaiting aliens
''
South Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding B ...
''. 10 September 2001. Retrieved 6 October 2007
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Agenda

Part of the geniocratic agenda is to promote the idea of a
world government World government is the concept of a single political authority with jurisdiction over all humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. A world gove ...
system, deriding the current state-system as inadequate for dealing with contemporary global issues that are typical of globalisation, such as
environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment (biophysical), environment, par ...
,
social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...
,
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
, and the current economic system. In line with this, geniocracy proposes a different economic model called Economic Humanitarianism.


Response to criticism

As a response to its controversial attitudes about selectivity, one of the more general responses is to point out that
universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...
, the current system, already discriminates to some degree and varyingly in different countries as to who is allowed to vote. Primarily, this discrimination is against women, minority racial groups, refugees, immigrants, minority religious groups, minority ethnic groups, minors, elderly people, those living in poverty and homelessness, incarcerated and previously incarcerated people, and the mentally or physically incapacitated. This is on the basis that their ability to contribute to the decision-making process is either flawed or invalid for the purpose of the society.


Status

The current difficulty in the ideas of geniocracy is that the means of assessing intelligence are ill-defined. One idea offered by Raël in ''Geniocracy'' is to have specialists such as psychologists, neurologists, ethnologists, etc., perfect or choose among existing ones, a series of tests that would define each person's level of intelligence. They should be designed to measure intellectual potential rather than accumulation of knowledge. Some argue other components deemed necessary for a more rounded understanding of intelligence include concepts like
emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence (EI) is most often defined as the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. People with high emotional intelligence can recognize their own emotions and those of others, use emotional information t ...
. As such, geniocracy's validity cannot really be assessed until better and more objective methods of intelligence assessment are made available. The matter of confronting moral problems that may arise is not addressed in the book ''Geniocracy''; many leaders may be deeply intelligent and charismatic (having both high emotional/social intelligence and IQ) according to current means of measuring such factors, but no current scientific tests are a reliable enough measure for one's ability to make humanitarian choices (although online tests such as those used by retail chains to select job applicants may be relevant). The lack of scientific rigour necessary for inclusion of geniocracy as properly testable political ideology can be noted in number of modern and historical dictatorships as well as
oligarchies Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, ...
. Because of the controversies surrounding geniocracy, Raël presents the idea as a classic utopia or provocative ideal and not necessarily a model that humanity will follow.Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real?
''Zenit News Agency''. 16 January 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2007.


Democratically defined regions

The author of ''Geniocracy'' recommends (though does not necessitate) a world government with 12 regions. Inhabitants would vote for which region they want to be part of. After the regions are defined, they are further divided into 12 sectors after the same principle of democracy is applied. While sectors of the same region are defined as having equal numbers of inhabitants, the regions themselves may have different levels of population, which would be proportional to its voting power.


See also

*''
Idiocracy ''Idiocracy'' is a 2006 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge and co-written by Judge and Etan Cohen. Starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, and Terry Crews, the film tells the story of Corporal Joe Bauers (W ...
'' (a dark comedy film) depicts the United States in 2505 where the vast majority are mentally backwards (by current standards) despite widespread use of IQ tests. * '' Superman: Red Son'' ends with
Lex Luthor Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: April ...
establishing a utopian but elitist world government under the philosophy of "Luthorism" which is essentially a geniocracy run by Luthor and other geniuses. * Plato's Republic *
Meritocracy Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...
* Netocracy * Noocracy *
Transhumanism Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement which advocates the enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies that can greatly enhance longevity and cognition. Transhuma ...
*
Technocracy Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...


Notes


References

*Rael,
La géniocratie
''. L'Edition du message, 1977. . *Rael,
Geniocracy: Government of the People, for the People, by the Geniuses
''. Nova Distribution, 2008.


Further reading

*


External links


Geniocracy.orgGeniocracy Review on RaelNewsGeniocracy piece on RaelRadio'Geniocracy is the solution' - article on Raelnews
{{Religious books Rule by a subset of population Raëlian practices Religious texts