Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Test-Driven Democracy. I think America's political sphere could use a good shot of Kent Beck's philosophies. We try so many different things, in politics, and there's argument after argument about whether or not the policy in question has worked. Test-driven democracy puts the horse in front of the cart, and forces politicians to indicate, in advance, exactly how they're going to measure the effects of their policies. Of course, more arguments will break out on how to measure things, but that's a step in the right direction. For example, two years ago a tax refund was passed by the federal government. There were a whole series of promises attached to that policy. How has it all panned out? What was predicted as an effect of the tax cut? Politicians should make part of their laws tests that must be passed to ensure the effectiveness of the law. The law should self-invalidate if the desired effects are not achieved. 8:27:47 PM