The Other Gentlemen’s Agreement
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| Who gets a vote? | 25 Executive Directors on the Executive Board of the World Bank, each appointed by member governments | 117 Cardinals, each appointed by the Pope, forming the College of Cardinals |
| Where are they from? | 56% from North America and Europe | 62% from North America and Europe |
| Who does NOT get to vote? | 1.3 billion poor people | 1.2 billion Catholics |
| Who is chosen? | A gentleman from the US, 100% of the time since 1946 AD | A gentleman from Europe, 100% of the time since 741 AD |
| What is the voting system? | The US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Russia, Saudi Arabia and China appoint one Executive Director each. The US ED has 15.5% of the voting power, Japan has 9%, and everyone else has less than 5%. The other 17 EDs are elected by groups of countries. For example, Poland, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and others select a Swiss ED: |
Each cardinal under age 80 has 1 vote. In 2005, Europe was represented with 50% of the cardinals and North America with 12%. 18% of the Cardinals were of Latin American origin, 9% African and 9% Asian. The composition of the College changes as the new Pope appoints new cardinals. |
| How is the vote legitimized? | "The Executive Directors […] shall exercise all the powers delegated to them by the Board of Governors" | “quasi afflati Spiritu Sancto” (as if inspired by the Holy Ghost) |
| What is the final voting tally? | 100% in favor of winning candidate* | 100% in favor of winning candidate |
| How did the representatives actually vote? | Only God knows | |
On April 16, expect white smoke to rise out of H Street and 19th.
*UPDATE April 16, 2012: The new World Bank President was announced today and the American nominee, Jim Yong Kim, was elected. For the first time in World Bank history, the vote was not unanimous, but the voting tally has so far not been made public.