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> Germany is not a direct democracy. That's not true. Elements of direct democracy are for example available at the local level. Here in Hamburg the politics i

by lispm 12y ago

> Germany is not a direct democracy. That's not true. Elements of direct democracy are for example available at the local level. Here in Hamburg the politics is supporting it. For example the mayor of Hamburg is openly supporting it: http://www.abendblatt.de/politik/deutschland/article129401329/Olaf-Scholz-Ich-bin-Anhaenger-von-Volksentscheiden.html http://www.abendblatt.de/politik/deutschland/article12940132... http://www.abendblatt.de/politik/deutschland/article129395652/Hamburg-ist-das-Labor-der-direkten-Demokratie.html http://www.abendblatt.de/politik/deutschland/article12939565... If people here in Hamburg/Germany would be unhappy with it, then they could vote over such a topic, if there is enough interest. We already have elements of direct democracy. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksentscheid http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksentscheid For example we voted here to buy back the energy utilities, sold a few years ago. Just recently a non-binding public voting was a done about a new possible tourist attraction. Here you can see the list of `Volksabstimmungen` we had here in Hamburg in the last years: http://www.hamburg.de/contentblob/104078/data/volksabstimmungen-uebersicht.pdf http://www.hamburg.de/contentblob/104078/data/volksabstimmun...

Xylakant 12y ago
To be fair, since this is a federal law and Volksentscheid are only possible up to state level, this wouldn't change anything in this case.
- lispm 12y ago
  The states could propose a change of the federal law, the Personenbeförderungsgesetz.
  - Xylakant 12y ago
    I'm fairly sure that this is not possible to enforce via Volksentscheid. Its state legislation, so the details differ, but as far as I understand in most states the referendum can only decide over a proposed law. In some states a general guideline for the parliament can be decided over (Berlin, HH and Schleswig-Holstein) but those are only recommendations. I'm not certain if it would be a valid course to create a law that forces the parliament (or rather the states representatives in the Bundesrat) to propose a law. That might create a legal problem: What if the proposed law gets changed or rejected in the Bundesrat etc. You're free to try, but I doubt that course of action will work.

by lispm 12y ago

Xylakant 12y ago

To be fair, since this is a federal law and Volksentscheid are only possible up to state level, this wouldn't change anything in this case.

lispm 12y ago
The states could propose a change of the federal law, the Personenbeförderungsgesetz.
- Xylakant 12y ago
  I'm fairly sure that this is not possible to enforce via Volksentscheid. Its state legislation, so the details differ, but as far as I understand in most states the referendum can only decide over a proposed law. In some states a general guideline for the parliament can be decided over (Berlin, HH and Schleswig-Holstein) but those are only recommendations. I'm not certain if it would be a valid course to create a law that forces the parliament (or rather the states representatives in the Bundesrat) to propose a law. That might create a legal problem: What if the proposed law gets changed or rejected in the Bundesrat etc. You're free to try, but I doubt that course of action will work.