Laird
Member
Splitting out another thread topic from the fertile Donald Trump thread, with a small addition to what I wrote as quoted below: there are already two registered Australian political parties advocating something like direct democracy, Online Direct Democracy - (Empowering the People!) and VOTEFLUX.ORG | Upgrade Democracy!. I'd be interested to know of similar parties in your own country, if you're not in Australia.
I would rather eliminate the legislative branch of government and let the people vote directly on legislation by phone or internet. Elected representatives could still be involved in drafting legislation, but in modern times, there is no reason why we need elected representatives to vote on legislation, they were needed when transportation and communication was slower but are obsolete today.
I would rather eliminate the legislative branch of government and let the people vote directly on legislation by phone or internet. Elected representatives could still be involved in drafting legislation, but in modern times, there is no reason why we need elected representatives to vote on legislation, they were needed when transportation and communication was slower but are obsolete today.
You don't think that, to some extent, long term legislators gain a certain expertise through service in committees, discussions with varied groups, etc?
As a U.S. citizen, I would in not way want that broad responsibility. I should also say I would be highly uncomfortable with other folks having this responsibility.I would rather eliminate the legislative branch of government and let the people vote directly on legislation by phone or internet. Elected representatives could still be involved in drafting legislation, but in modern times, there is no reason why we need elected representatives to vote on legislation, they were needed when transportation and communication was slower but are obsolete today.
Perhaps on certain, large and well understood issues, yes.
I liken it to times I've been in professional settings where a leader has called for a "show of hands" in a meeting. Typically, there are a couple of folks in the room with significantly greater expertise and nuanced understanding of the issue at hand. A purely democratic resolution in these settings has typically led to poor decisions.
Transparency and accountability seem to be lacking in our republic, but the answer isn't giving all legislative responsibility to the public at large. Scary thought for me.
I would rather eliminate the legislative branch of government and let the people vote directly on legislation by phone or internet. Elected representatives could still be involved in drafting legislation, but in modern times, there is no reason why we need elected representatives to vote on legislation, they were needed when transportation and communication was slower but are obsolete today.
Exactly the approach I advocate. I've even been meaning to put my ideas into practice by coding up a direct digital democracy site, but somehow haven't managed to generate enough sustained motivation. The problem of "don't know enough to have an informed opinion" can easily be overcome by the ability to delegate one's vote - either (perhaps by default) to one's nominal "representative" (appointed as in the current system) or to one's partner, or a public voice one trusts. One could even elect to delegate one's vote to different people on different policies/issues/categories.
An existing (last I checked) direct digital democracy solution which first implemented this idea of deferred votes is Liquid Feedback.