Should we restrict people from voting?
POST ONE, by Anonymous1
The problem is that your concept would entail that people considered as "appropriate" voters always think in the common interest of all.
While this is not something that I think possible, as it is virtualy impossible to have a truely universal way of thinking, I also wih to point out that "intelligence" is not all.
If you look at the people who lead countries around the world, many are probably intelligent, but it does not mean they will necessarily make the right decisions about issues they have to deal with.
Although I would agree that some people are unable to vote in full understanding of what's going on around them and what is "good" for society, your system would bring power of decision to a new "elite" class, which would lead to a system close to what we had before the XX century. And I don't think that it could get rid of the plague of corporatism which would, in the end, cripple the "common good" concept. A better to achieve what youare aim at would be education.
Let's say a sort of "training", that would ensure that voters have basic knowledge of history, politics, etc to give them a basic understanding of what's going on around them, where we come from and are able to think about what kind future they want. And I would tend to think that appropriate "training" would be useful for prospective parents, especially in the UK, to make sure they are aware of what it entails to be a parent and how to raise a child "properly".
This might help tackle problems like teenage pregnancy and obesity, (highest rate in Europe)or anti-social behaviour amongst British teenagers.
POST TWO, by Anonymous2
Your entire thinking supposes 'the people' to be a homogeneous group with a common good, somewhat like a colony of ants.
Actually, there are far more suppositions than that in your theory, but they can wait.
Related to the idea that there is a single outcome most desirable to all people - this isn't the case. There may be a single outcome most desirable on aggregate, but that's a different matter.
Because you think that the the optimal outcome for the whole is the optimal outcome for each individual, this leads you to the conclusion that it is appropriate to strive only for the optimal outcome - which you think can be best achieved through only allowing the most rational and intelligent to make decisions.
However, there is no win-win outcome in politics. Therefore, how can you deny people the right to representation in their own interests?
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