Yes, in real democracy, the role of politicians, or rather
elected representatives, will be very different from what it is now. I
believe that exact patterns will evolve as a result of a trial and error
process.
Sincerely,
Jiri Polak
----- Original Message -----
To: wddm@world-wide-democracy.net
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 7:18
PM
Subject: RE: [WDDM] MANY ACTIVE MEMBERS
AND VOTERS As I understand real direct democracy don´t
need politicians as represents or leaders but advisors and organizers.
Their job is to inform people about political facts and theories and
organize refrandums and realise the result of refrandums and decisions made by
people in common political and practical
questions.
Regards Hamid
> From: jiri.polak(at)swipnet.se > To:
wddm@world-wide-democracy.net > Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:06:18
+0100 > Subject: Re: [WDDM] MANY ACTIVE MEMBERS AND VOTERS > > Dear Fred, > as far as I see, the model of PD you put forward
is compatible with my own > ideas, which are much more simple and only
rudimentary. The PD model is > certainly worth studying. I´ll bring an
information about it in the next > issue of my newsletter. >
Sincerely, Jiri Polak > ----- Original Message ----- > From:
"Fred Gohlke" <fredgohlke(at)verizon.net> > To:
<wddm@world-wide-democracy.net> > Sent: Monday, January 17, 2011
11:14 PM > Subject: Re: [WDDM] MANY ACTIVE MEMBERS AND VOTERS > > > > Good Afternoon, Jiri > > > > From
your January 14th post: > > > > "The basic fault ... is to
call party-based regimes 'democracy'". > > > > From your
January 16th post: > > > > "But I - and many others - also
want a system where elected > > representatives get continuous
feedback from their voters who > > can recall them at any moment (not
only during elecions) if > > the majority within the respective
constituency demand it." > > > > Have you thought about the
way Practical Democracy functions? It > > addresses and resolves
both the points you make; the first because it > > sidesteps
political parties and the second because it is inherently > >
bi-directional. > > > > Political Parties > >
----------------- > > Over two hundred years experience with party
politics informs us that, > > when politics is based on
partisanship, the partisans form oligarchic > > power blocs that
become an end in themselves and ultimately transcend the > > will of
the people. > > > > Partisanship is a potent tool for those
with a thirst for power but it > > does not foster government by the
people. It results in government by a > > small fraction of the
people. For the people as a whole, the flaws in > > party politics
are devastating. Their cumulative effect victimizes the > > public
by the most basic and effective strategy of domination --- divide >
> and conquer. > > > > Parties are important for the
principals: the party leaders, > > contributors, candidates and
elected officials, but the significance > > diminishes rapidly as
the distance from the center of power grows. Most > > people are on
the periphery, remote from the centers of power. As > > outsiders,
they have little incentive to participate in the political > >
process. > > > > The challenge of representative democracy
is not to divide the public into > > blocs but to find the best
advocates of the common interest and raise them > > to leadership
positions as the people's representatives. > > > > To meet
that challenge, given the range of public issues and the way each >
> individual's interest in political matters varies over time, an effective > > electoral process must examine the entire electorate during each
election > > cycle, seeking the people's best advocates. It must let
every voter > > influence the outcome of each election to the best
of their desire and > > ability, and it must ensure that those
selected as representatives are > > disposed to serve the public
interest. > > > > Practical Democracy allows voters to
quickly and easily align themselves > > with others who share their
views. It changes the focus of advocates of a > > partisan position
from getting votes for a politician to persuading voters > > of the
value of the idea they espouse. It lets every faction select, from >
> among themselves, the best champions of their point of view and raise
them > > as far as the size of the group allows. >
> > > One huge flaw in the party-based systems that dominate the
globe is that > > individuals must support one of the existing
parties or be denied a voice > > in the political process. They have
no way to prevent the excesses of the > > parties. >
> > > Practical Democracy gives unaligned people a voice. Those
who advocate > > partisan interests must ultimately present their
point of view to voters > > who may not share their view. This
provides unaligned people with a > > countervailing force that
prevents domination by any party. > > > > PD allows, indeed
encourages, enclaves to easily form and attract > > adherents. As
Jane Mansbridge said in The Deliberative System > > Disaggregated,
"Enclaves are good at generating new ideas. Everyday talk > > is
good at applying ideas and selecting those best applicable to common >
> experience." That is how fresh ideas are introduced into society, but > > they cannot impose their will unless they are able to persuade
the > > unaligned of the value of their ideas. PD guarantees that
fresh ideas > > will be accommodated to the extent they are deemed
worthy by the > > electorate. > > > >
Bi-directionality > > ----------------- > > Practical
Democracy is inherently bi-directional. Because each advancing > >
participant and elected official sits atop a pyramid of known electors, > > questions on specific issues can easily be transmitted directly
to and > > from the electors for the guidance or instruction of the
official. This > > capability offers those who implement the process
a broad scope, ranging > > from simple polling of constituents to
referenda on selected issues and > > recall of an elected
representative. > > > > If you are interested in these
concepts, the process is described in > > Paricipedia at: >
> > > http://participedia.net/wiki/Practical_Democracy >
> > > > > I wonder if you'll find value in it. >
> > > Fred Gohlke >
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