A Direct Democracy?

[MAW1082]

With all the technology we have these days, in the near future, or even today, it might be possible to implement this sort of system. It would change the history of the world. Elected representatives propose laws, and the public votes on them. I wonder what would happen . . .

 

[Czar]

bad idea, laws are very complex and the average person doesnt know much about the laws.. yeah..... hope I managed to write what I meant

 

[gistech1978]

the reps would make the language so confusing, slap riders onto the bills etc etc
i mean they even do it now, voting "yes" on an issue meaning you dont want the law passed etc.
that would mean the electorate would have to be completely informed and educated.
take time off of work to vote every 2 hrs on a new law.
its a nice thought but it isnt practical and wont happen in the foreseeable future.

 

[xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx]

Last time I played with some GSS data, more than 60% of American could not identify Judge Rehnquist; more than 20% couldn't name the political party of Al Gore (I plan on going over this year's data soon, so we'll see how this has changed); I would rather not have these same people deciding on public policy that affects my life.

 

[PlatinumGold]

a direct democracy would mean changing how we define laws.

what might be best is to program the computer to change according to desired results.

in other words the people vote on the desired results and the computer tries to implement laws that would bring about those results.

i know, its very sketchy but it might work.

 

[xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx]

I could program something like that on my Timex Sinclair; good idea, "d00d."

 

[MAW1082]

Yeah I do believe that more than 10% of Americans are illiterate. Pretty sad in this day and age if you ask me.

 

[MovingTarget]

On a national level, direct democracy probably wouldnt fly too well. The average person doesnt know any more about plolitics than what CNN/MSNBC/FOX tells them. They havent had any in-depth study of political issues for the most part. However, on a local level, direct democracy would work well, as it has proven in the past. The average person knows a lot more about local issues because they are not very far removed from them like they can be on national issues (foreign affairs/trade/etc). Some of the first settlements in this country had some sort of direct democracy/town hall governing structure if i'm correct. (Dont fry me on that one, but i'd have to look it up)

All that bieng said, every technology has its problems. I"m assuming that you propose some sort of IT/Web-based voting system maybe? It is possible to implement those, but if something goes wrong, the logistics would be a nightmare. There are also security issues on that. You have a good idea though. Its at least worth looking into.

 

[Double Trouble]

It's not politically correct to say (and no politician would ever dare say it), but the reality is that the vast majority of the population is composed of idiots, many can't even do basic math or find the U.S. on a world map. The same is true of populations in every country on earth.

Now how exactly would it be possible for those idiots to make any kind of informed decision about complex laws or other issues?

Nope... sadly, that would never work. We're stuck with people in Washington making decisions based on how much money they get from lobbying groups.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: tagej
It's not politically correct to say (and no politician would ever dare say it), but the reality is that the vast majority of the population is composed of idiots, many can't even do basic math or find the U.S. on a world map. The same is true of populations in every country on earth.

Now how exactly would it be possible for those idiots to make any kind of informed decision about complex laws or other issues?

Nope... sadly, that would never work. We're stuck with people in Washington making decisions based on how much money they get from lobbying groups.

Maybe we need simle laws like in kindergarden again. You know golden rule and such. The way it is now polititians pander to the lowest common denominator and we get it. I don't like when people assume others are stupid, it's elitist, we all have strenghts and weaknesses a direct democracy is the only true democracy. Like socialisms never been tried (except in employee owned firms) it will never happen publically because of this elitist attitude in this thread.

 

[sandorski]

Such a dramatic change should start at the bottom, on the civic level or maybe in the workplace(in some fashion). By doing it on a more local level, the system can be tweaked to make it more feasible. Also, it would allow people to get used to the idea and learn how to inform themselves and make such decisions. Revolutionary change can bring about serious problems, evolution works better.

 

[AvesPKS]

Originally posted by: Czar
bad idea, laws are very complex and the average person doesnt know much about the laws.. yeah..... hope I managed to write what I meant

So, you're basically saying that we need to protect the people from themselves?

 

[Double Trouble]

Maybe we need simle laws like in kindergarden again. You know golden rule and such. The way it is now polititians pander to the lowest common denominator and we get it. I don't like when people assume others are stupid, it's elitist, we all have strenghts and weaknesses a direct democracy is the only true democracy. Like socialisms never been tried (except in employee owned firms) it will never happen publically because of this elitist attitude in this thread.

You can call it "elitist" if you like, but the truth is that there's a certain proportion of the population that is simply incapable of understanding complex issues. Do you honestly think that someone that can't comprehend the difference between federal and state governments, or someone that doesn't know who our president is can be capable of making decisions about complex issues? No way. A direct democracy can never work -- anywhere.

 

[JellyBaby]

With all the technology we have these days, in the near future, or even today, it might be possible to implement this sort of system. It would change the history of the world. Elected representatives propose laws, and the public votes on them. I wonder what would happen . . .

The nation would collapse in short order, on every level. The expense of government would be tremendous because everyone would push for and vote in entitlements.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: JellyBaby

With all the technology we have these days, in the near future, or even today, it might be possible to implement this sort of system. It would change the history of the world. Elected representatives propose laws, and the public votes on them. I wonder what would happen . . .

The nation would collapse in short order, on every level. The expense of government would be tremendous because everyone would push for and vote in entitlements.

You obviously would'nt everybody -1.

 

[JellyBaby]

No I wouldn't but I'm weird that way.