Zoecracy

Zoecracy is a political form of democratic government carried out by
elected representatives of the people that is more inclusive of nature
than democracy is capable of being.
The term is derived from the
Greek words: zoe "life" and kratos "power" and means the
'rule of life'. As of 2010, zoecracy has not been established as a form
of government in any country.
Throughout the 21 century, mankind is likely to experience a rapid
demise of the environment and its ecological fundamentals due to
human activity. Therefore, following on the traditions of democracy,
and in full view of the whole of the natural world, it is imperative to
extend democratic representation to include the rest of life. Mother
Nature must no longer be taken for granted.
Zoecracy is an evolved form of democracy such that the rest of life is
no longer disenfranchised within human forms of government. In this
way, zoecracy is truly in the long-term interests of humans for
generations unborn. Nature itself must be given meaningful
representation in the process of passing legislation that affects it.
Democracies can achieve zoecracy
by amending their constitutions to provide non-human life absolute
voting rights over a certain percentage or "block vote" of the total
legislative vote. One suggestion is that non-human life be given a right
to one third (let's agree 34%) of the vote which would be cast in its
favour. 34%, while under-representing nature, may be the most that
can be achieved in the 21 century in view of human nature since it is
humans who must amend their constitutions to share governance in
this way.
How zoecracy could function
A judicial committee of nine members, each of whom have both legal
and environmental credentials, would decide if a bill to be presented
before the legislature impacts the environment.
If the judicial committee decides that a bill impacts the environment,
then an automatic block vote of 34% of the total vote is cast in favour
of the environmental position. The remaining 66% of the vote is entirely
under the control of the legislators.
Examples of legislation
Clear examples of legislation that impact the environment are those
bearing on natural resources, water and land use, pollution and waste,
energy, and biotechnology. Other and sometimes less clear examples of legislation are those concerned with transportation, agriculture,
commerce, and recreation. Examples of legislation least likely to be under the purview of the
judicial committee are those on human rights, family, education,
media, labour, most types of crime, banking & finance, many types of
technology, and medicine.
Casting votes
For example, if a legislative assembly has 100 members and a bill has
received the 34% block of votes, then each of the 100 legislators' votes
would have an effective strength of two thirds of a vote that altogether
would make up the remaining 66% of the total assembly vote.
If our example of 100 legislators is equally divided
over a piece of legislation, the bill could receive 50 two-thirds yea votes
and 50 two-thirds nay votes plus the block vote of 34 votes for passage
by a total of 67 (33 + 34) yea votes to 33 nay votes.
Legislation subject to the rule of zoecracy can help mankind establish
an honourable and sustainable future.
See Also
*Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance
*Conservation movement
*Democracy
*Democratization
*Ecological humanities
*Environmental governance
*Environmental justice
*Environmentalism
*Governance
*Green party
*Green politics
*Political ecology
Further reading
1. Kristin Sharon Shrader-Frechette, 2002. Environmental Justice: Creating Equality, Reclaiming Democracy. 288pp New York, NY: Oxford University Press
2. Roger Sidaway, 2005. Resolving Environmental Disputes: From Conflict to Consensus. 320pp London: Earthscan

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