Direct democracy is the ideal form of government. Every citizen gets an equal say in every action that the government performs and no piece of legislation can be passed without consent from the majority of the people whose lives will be most influenced by it. It’s self-rule at its finest. Sure, you may not get exactly what you want, but you can rest assured that the majority of the people in your community will get exactly what they want most of the time. What more can you ask for in a system of government? It’s tyranny of the masses, sure, but it’s a hell of a lot better than tyranny of the few. Or one.
Throughout my education the fact the direct democracy is impossible/improbable/unworkable has been reiterated countless times. I learned that the ancient Greeks practiced a form of direct democracy, albeit an exclusive form limited to land-owning, adult male citizens. I also learned that in some small towns in colonial America, townspeople would often assemble at town hall meetings to voice their opinions and have a say in how the town was run. Modern American representative democracy, I am told, is the closest we can get to direct democracy without utter chaos. You obviously can’t fit 280 million-something Americans into a giant town hall and take a hand count.
I have observed, in my stint as a modern American, that I have no say in the day-to-day actions of my government. Take this China mess, for instance. I would like very much for my president to issue a formal apology to the Chinese so we can all get on with our lives in peace. Unfortunately, nobody has asked me. I feel like an outcast in my own country – I must sit on my hands and do nothing while a small group of powerful politicians (who don’t necessarily have my best interest at heart) make all the important decision. Sure I can vote Bush and his cronies out of office in four years, but by then it will probably be too late.
I learned from a e-poll on yahoo.com (hardly scientific, I know) that roughly 80% of the people who voted (most of whom are Americans, I’m assuming), believe that we should apologize to China. Assuming that we do not apologize to China, how does one justify the fact that the American government acts in a manner that is counter to what the majority of the American population supports? Does the government really know better than its subjects? Isn’t that a justification for totalitarianism?
I guess what I’m trying to say, in my wordy, obtuse way, is that I believe in the ideal of direct democracy, and I think it’s even possible in modern society – with the Internet.
Here’s the plan: we hook every citizen up to the Internet with a secure connection to a town hall server. On the town hall servers they can participate in forums, discuss and debate issues, read about pros and cons, and when the time comes, vote. Every time the government needs to make a decision, they can open the polls for, say twelve hours. Every person who is interested can then register his or her opinion. When the polls close, the votes are tallied electronically and the simple majority wins. For instance, suppose that 72% of citizens vote that we should apologize to China. The government has no available course of action other than to issue a formal apology to the Chinese in accordance with majority rule. Legislation can be passed in a similar way. An elected body can decide the agenda for a particular time period, and interested citizens can read the proposed bills and vote.
In order for the system to work, people must participate. Obviously, not every person will have the time or the inclination to participate in the virtual town hall meetings, but I’m willing to bet that a lot of people will jump at the opportunity to have a genuine say in current events. And if you are pressed for time or just plain uninterested in policy making, you can chose only to vote on the issues that are important to you. Since access is simple and convenient – all you need to do is log into the server from your home computer – there’s no good excuse not to take an active role in government. And best of all, you’d regain a little bit of control over your life and your destiny!
Sure, there are details to work out. Security and privacy are issues – you don’t want special interest groups to be able to cast fraudulent votes. It’s also a good idea to have a secret ballot system so that some kind of Big Brother can’t keep track of your voting record or your political leanings. Perhaps you could keep the town hall servers decentralized so that no single political entity can control them. And you’d still need some kind of ruling body to make those split-second decisions that cannot be made at the polls.
So what do you say? Can it work? Am I a foolish dreamer with too much time on his hands?
Works for me! Though maybe using a crusty punk band from yesteryear won’t help me get my point across to you young whippersnappers.