In another referendum, which the Swiss voters called, the Swiss government had to withdraw a law for…
Switzerland, again controls its politicians
Direct democracy resources
To help you get going we provide a number of practical resources to help spread the idea and the practice of direct democracy.
When we talk to people who are not familiar with direct democracy we see that some seem to believe is some sort of demagogic idea such decision making by the people present at a meeting organized by persuasive leaders who want a “democratic” endorsement for whatever grand vision they have to pass new laws to jail the “enemies of the people”, to start a war, to put the educational system upside down, to persecute this or that person or group, etc.
Others are more aware of what direct democracy really means; that the people directly, after calm discussion and debate of an issue decide to vote on it and their vote obligates the elected politicians to carry out the decision.
Others think that direct democracy is to vote in referendums proposed by the government at the local, regional or national level.
Yet others tend to think “direct democracy can not work here” and, of course, they reel out a list of reasons of why they think so. In many cases they are right. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of the nations of the World are not even capable, do not seem interested, are not allowed, etc., to even consider basic representative democracy, never mind direct democracy. Even representative democracy is the excepcion around the World; 15 to 20 nations can be considered formally full democracies but the number is even less if we add dimensions such as historical stability.
The population who live in long terms stable, solid democracies amounts to approximately
As a matter of fact, the number of nations we can consider have long term stable democracies with freedom of expression (including criticism of the government), media not allied with political parties, fair elections, real rule of law and low economic corruption and lobby or influencers , independent judges, freedom of religion, etc., is about 20. In terms of population the people living in what what can be considered full formal democracies is not even 900 million. If we consider de facto democracies which are in existence before the Second World War, then the number nations is reduced to 15 and the population would drop to about 750 million.
If we consider direct democracies, there is only one, Switzerland. But even Switzerland could expand the power of citizens much further. Amazingly, 2600 years later, even Swiss citizens have less control of their government than the Athenians and some cities of ancient Greece
What direct democracy really means is that the people, after ample discussions can mandate the government to call a referendum to remove a law, propose new laws or other issues that say, 1% of the voters decide it hast to be presented to the people for their decision.
Direct democracy also means that ordinary citizens actively participate in government by election, by rotation or by lot. This means ordinary citizens actively participate in the running of their town, their region and their national government.
Why direct democracy
The time is now, representative democracy is in crisis. The alternative is not anarchy or totalitarian government, the alternative is to perfect democracy and evolve from representative democracy, where elected representatives make al the decisions for you, to direct democracy.
In direct democracy we still have elected representatives and political parties but the people directly control what the government does because in direct democracy the people have the power and straightforward mechanisms to exercise it.
The key difference is that in representative democracy the elected representatives make all the decisions. If the people do not like what the government does they have to wait till the next election, they can write letters to their representatives, they can demonstrate in the streets, they can voice their displeasure in the media but they do not have the mechanisms to force the government to withdraw laws, nor can they force the government to put in place new laws.
The opposition party representatives can not do much either, except in vary particular situations. For example, if enough representatives of the party in government side with the opposition. As we all know this is not a likely event.
The end result of representative democracy, even in the most stable sound representative democracies, the voter see how time and again, elections are about promises. Promises that we all know the government often does not fulfill because powerful lobbies influence the representatives of the people, including the opposition parties’ representatives, in many direct and indirect ways which, between elections, are more powerful than the influence of the voters.
So we have a situation where the power of the ballot has been reduced drastically.
The end result is that more and more people drop out of the democratic process. Some decide not to vote, other take to the streets or even more extreme measures. It is obvious that representative democracy has suffered serious discredit. Some totalitarians who, obviously do not comprehend or believe in democracy speak of democracy in terms such as: “western democracy is not the only proper way to run a country”. As if democracy, which is a Wesstern invention, more specifically an Ancient Greece invention, was not something of universal value.
To suggest that there are alternatives to democracy in relation to dignity, justice, freedom, etc., is like saying that vodoo is an alternative to pennicillin, totally irrational. Only ignorance or inhumanity or both can prompt any leader to say that there are equally valid alternatives to democracy. Democracy is not like French wine, American fast food or Chinese martial arts; democracy is universal.
Of course, not all peoples on Earth are ready to have democracy. Sadly, most are demonstrating time and again that do not yet have the values, the political common sense, the political intelligence that the establishment of a stable, sound, prosperous democracy where freedom and the rule of law are the norm.
Obviously, this blog is not addressed at those nations; it would not be realistic to expect them to establish direct democracy if they have not yet been able to establish reasonably stable representative democracy. In fact, most peoples of the Earth seem still stuck in various forms of dictatorship; religious dictatorships as well as right wing and left wing lay dictatorships. Sometimes of the one person has absolute power, sometimes a group of clerics or a totalitarian rightist or leftist party hold all the power, including the power to ensure its “reelection” time after time until, like all totalitarian regimes, eventually collapses from within or because the miscalculate their power. No need to give examples, we have plenty.
Why the Swiss flag? because Switzerland is the only nation with the political skills to practice direct democracy. Amazingly, even Swiss democracy falls short of the direct democracy they practiced in the Greek city of Athens, and other Greek cities like Corcyra, Syracuse, Argos, Corinth, Megara and others.