I agree on the principle, but I want to argue a small point. You say intelligence, when I think an average IQ person who studies policy as a hobby and puts time and effort into being informed will be vastly more capable of proper governance than a 115-120IQ person who doesn’t put the time in. I think the main thing here is education and information distribution and how (in our case, poorly) we set up the infrastructure and social mechanisms to perform these.
Well ... if I were going to be precise, I'd prefer that people with >110IQ, Stage 5 on Bob Kagen's 5-stage adult development model, had an interest in politics, a well developed sense of fairness and evidence-based beliefs were running the show. But that is a big ask and I might not like it when I see it.
Either way, encouraging stupid people to participate is not the way. At best it is a harmless no-change manoeuvre.
I’d like to see that too, but the way to get citizens with the qualities you desire is, imo, infrastructural and not best done via a filter. Currently, we churn people out of high schools half literate then feed them profit-driven slop on their tvs and phones, then we expect them to somehow make cogent political decisions. I don’t know this for a fact, but my intuition is that if you improved the relevant infrastructure you’d produce a majority population capable of pretty solid political thought, where your solutions more resemble band-aids with undemocratic side-effects. It would be harmless if you did it perfectly, but any real-world anti-voter filter or social pressure would inevitably be used for undesirable, irrational ends.
People who study policy as a hobby have an unfortunate tendency to fall into reddit bubbles of like minded individuals, think in theories only and loose touch with with how the world actually operate back on earth.
We have systematically annihilated the traditional alternative sources of community that would put people in contact with local, on-the-ground politics. Individuals, left isolated, often end up participating in a bastardized facade of politics built on media consumption. If you want to improve this you have to address the systems creating the isolation.
If it’s not people who study policy as a hobby, then who ought to be voting?
Pretty much everyone who wants to and is old enough for it. That would include people who have families they spend time to, friends they priorities and who have variety of hobbies and jobs.
Having interacted with many people who don’t engage with any kind of political media, this isn’t true. It’s very difficult to have any clue what to vote for or why when you have no information; these people end up going off vibes. Spending all day listening to choir preaching may still diffuse useful information about current issues into you by accident.
