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02779: RE: [WDDM] MANY ACTIVE MEMBERS AND VOTERS

From: "Jim Powell" <jimpowell(at)mweb.co.za>
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:47:38 +0200
Subject: RE: [WDDM] MANY ACTIVE MEMBERS AND VOTERS

I think the Swiss have got it right (mostly)

Have your politicians investigate and propose new laws. The electorate will have access to all the information and can raise a referendum if enough of them are unhappy with the legislation. A referendum is held and the will of the people is sovereign.

97% of legislation in Switzerland goes through without objection. The laws that are passed will be created with the knowledge that they can be challenged, so they are voter friendly

Jim Powell South Africa

From: Hamid Mohseni [esi1mohseni2(at)hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 8:18 PM
To: World Direct Democracy
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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