BrEggum   wrote:

....
The reality is how many actually would participate? Of course dangers exist also in this direct vote. Factions could “rule” the government and minorities would have little decisive power. Once the people realize they could legislate themselves no tax and paid holiday continuous – ----- that is usually the end of democracies.

This is not a real danger, it is only an unfounded argument that the opponents of DD like to use.

Real experience shows that people are not that dumb to vote for themselves no taxes. If people are given the possibility to participate, they, as a group, are actually becoming more responsible managers of common assets.

One example is the little city of Rossland, BC which had a participatory democracy in the 1990's (I am not sure about their current status, I still have to find it out); read about it here: [www.npsnet.com] or [www.bythepeople.info]
What's interesting in this report is that the citizens of Rossland were financially responsible when they lived in the I&R regime, and did not voted themselves zero taxes, and the city's spending became more effective. The same was observed in Porto Alegro, Brazil after popular participation in determining the annual budget was introduced in that city,
read here: [democracy.mkolar.org]

Similarly, in response to claims of a politician that DD is impossible because people would immediately voted themselves zero taxes, some DD advocates in Czechia conducted a simple poll in the streets. The result: large majority of those asked would not vote for reduction of taxes if they had such a possibility in a referendum.

Mirek

mk, [democracy.mkolar.org]