http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalberg-Acton,_1st_Baron_Acton
my comment: All officials are given "power" their corruption grows with their status.
Election will not change this, only the people's direct oversight of the decisions can keep it in check.
Initiative and Binding Referendum is a good process of "oversight".
Regards, Bruce
Bruce Eggum
Gresham Wisconsin, USA
Health Care
http://tinyurl.com/ycx9vpzhttp://usinitiative.comhttp://vote.org/ @BruceEggum
On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 5:12 PM, <
Fred Gohlke> wrote:
Thank you, Jiri
The proposal has merit, but I'm not surprised that "all parliamentary parties have rejected this proposal".
I differ with the authors of the proposal because I believe the problem is less a matter of monitoring our representatives than it is a matter of picking the best representatives in the first place. As long as political parties control the selection of candidates for public office, we will be ruled by the vested interests that control the parties.
We have, among us, no shortage of people with the ability and the integrity to advocate the common good (even when their advocacy does not serve my personal interest). What we lack is a means of finding those people and raising them to public office.
Still, the important thing is, as you say, "... the fight for democracy goes on." My guess is that we are 200 years from government "by the people", but it won't even happen then unless be keep working.
Fred Gohlke