As I wrote in the thread under the posting of the original source (the White House announcement), http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5064137 http://news.ycomb

As I wrote in the thread under the posting of the original source (the White House announcement), http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5064137 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5064137 The founders of the United States knew that a representative democracy (what they termed a "republic") has some distinct advantages over direct democracy. This fact was discussed at length in the jointly authored Federalist Papers. http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html History shows that this fact is rediscovered in each new generation through hard experience, on a bipartisan basis.