…in the
best democracies nowadays the driving incentive in elections is the wish of
each politician to obtain power so as to be able to carry out the program that
he particularly favors—an election becomes a competition which the
self-promoting candidates either “win” or “lose.” The electorate is treated as
a mass to be swayed, by rhetoric and various forms of inducement, to support one
or other candidate. In the Bahá’í system, however, the voters are the active force
and the motive which impels them is to choose those individuals who are best
suited to serve on the institution. The persons elected are passive in the
electoral process (except in their role as voters) and accept election as an
obligation to serve the community in response to the wish of the electorate. In
other words, the systems differ in their essential spirit: one is a seeking for
power, the other is an acceptance of responsibility for service.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 18 July 2000 written on
behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)
