From: | "Jiri Polak" <jiri.polak(at)swipnet.se> |
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Date: | Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:01:27 +0200 |
Subject: | Democracy axioms |
I believe that attempts to draft a general
Democracy Constitution are premature. We should begin in individual countries.
In Czech Republic. a draft of Citizens´ Constitution has been published. I
believe that the elements on which it is based could be generally accepted as
"democracy axioms". They are:
1. The Constitution of any democratic country must
be approved by the majority of citizens in a referendum. Parliaments are not
competent to write and vote for a constitution since they promote the interests
of various citizen categories (and certain clandestine interests), as well as
the interests of party leaderships rather than the interests of citizens in
general, and are electe for the next election period only.
2. The legislative and executive powers must be
separated, while executive power, which must be non-partisan, must be
subordinated to the legislative power, including referenda.
3. The basis for representation must be election
districts, not political parties.
4. It must be possible to recall any politician if
the majority of voters in the respective election district demand
it.
5. The Head of State must be non-partisan and
elected by all citizens in a direct personal election.
6. It must be legally and practically possible for
the citizens to initiate a referendum on any issue, including foreign and
defence policy; referendums must be binding and authorized to change decisions
made in representative bodies. All representative bodies must operate on clearly
defined mandates.
7. If an issue requires special knowledge,
structured citizen deliberation - Planning Cells/Citizen Juries/Scientific
deliberative Polling - must precede voting in referendum.
8. The citizens must have access to information
concerning all political decisions made in representative bodie
(transparence).
Any political system which lacks one or several of
these attributes may not be called "democracy" and the citizens have the moral
right to oppose it by any non-violent means.
I hope for comments.
Sincerely, Jiri Polak
jiri.polak(at)swipnet.se |