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We have direct democracy in California and the world isn't ending. I think essentially you just gather enough signatures for an issue and it gets put to a direc
by wes-exp 14y ago
We have direct democracy in California and the world isn't ending. I think essentially you just gather enough signatures for an issue and it gets put to a direct vote on the same ballot as the presidential elections.
Although it's by no means perfect (what is?), it does help solve the problem of special interests being able to buy politicians.
- toyg 14y agoI'm not incredibly familiar with CA, but I'd argue you probably have some provisions for direct democracy, akin to referenda or people-proposed laws in some European countries. The main system is still fundamentally representative in nature.
- wes-exp 14y agoYes, but the point is that allowing people to directly petition the government via gathering signatures, which then triggers a public vote of the citizens, does not lead to quagmire. Far from it.
- toyg 14y agoWhen done offline, no. When done online, though, it's a whole different ballgame. Even limited automation of electronic voting has been proven extremely unreliable and prone to fraud. This is not a big deal when consequences are limited (i.e. petitions, non-binding surveys etc), but when actual legislative action starts depending entirely on a few electrons, then it's a scandal waiting to happen.