http://campaignfordemocracy.org.uk/
The structure we are proposing has three key elements, Parliament, the will of the people expressed through referendums, and the Constitutional Commission.
Democracy is government by the people, and therefore must allow the free participation of the electorate in the decision-making process. This will be achieved by gradually using referenda systematically, so that we can vote on the issues, not just for a representative to make all the decisions for us.
If voting is a good thing, we need more
of it !
Direct Votes campaigns for:-
1. A vote on each item in each party's manifesto, in addition to voting for a representative. This will give voters the chance to vote against items they disagree with, rather than having to accept the whole package. They can then also support particular policies from more than one party.
2. Items on which the House of Commons and the House of Lords disagree should be resolved by a referendum.
3. Legislation passed by Parliament to be agreed by the people by referenda - The People's Assent - just as the Royal Assent is required to pass legislation
4.
The systematic use of government
and citizen initiated referenda, to allow voters to participate
in decision-making. This will be the next stage in the development
of democracy, now that the universal right to vote for a representative
has been achieved.
One vote every four or five years for a representative to make all the decisions for us is the poorest possible form of democracy. The system must continue to develop with the gradual introduction of referenda.
A simple way of beginning this is to work from the notion that a government has a mandate from the electorate based on its manifesto. To confirm this, each party should be able to put one or more items from its manifesto to a referendum, held at the same time as voting for a representative.
Referenda would be held
annually, and might lead to annual elections for representatives
at the same time. The Chartists in the middle of the 19th Century
argued for annual elections as part of basic democratic reforms
which we now take for granted.
representing all
Representatives are not representative of women or ethnic minorities, so action to correct that is being considered by the parties. However, there are a multitude of areas in which representatives are unrepresentative:
income distribution
work
housing
travel
leisure activities
political allegiances
The right to vote on the issues would ensure
a proper balance, by allowing everyone to take part in decision-making.
If the House of Commons represented the people's membership of political parties, just 14 Members of Parliament would belong to a party!
For more information on the Direct Votes
campaign, please send me an e-mail:-
tbcinfo@tiscali.co.uk
Jim Mcglynn
Direct Votes
The right to vote.....on the issues
I recommend the Direct Democracy
Campaign web-site at:
http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/rodmell/index.htm
This web-site puts the case
for the use of referenda:-
"20th century democracy
meant a vote once every few years for MPs and Councillors who
then took all the decisions for us. In the 21st century we can
do better than that.
The aim of the Direct Democracy
Campaign is to improve the democratic process in the United Kingdom
through the introduction of a system of binding referendums, whereby
either citizens or their elected representatives may launch public
votes to bring in new laws and policies, or to alter, or remove
existing ones."
The Referenda Society - Dedicated to Direct Democracy
Its initial objective.......
To campaign for the introduction of a referenda voting system by which the electorate can express an opinion on issues of public concern and interest.
To achieve this, it needs to secure a new Pact between People and Parliament for democratic government by way of legislation through a nationwide petition.
On establishing direct democracy, the Society envisages a role in monitoring and facilitating the development, improvement and mechanism of public initiatives and proposals for referendum.
It asks, do you.....
* Regard government as becoming progressively remote and unresponsive to your expectations and concerns?
* Believe the political party system puts party before people?
* Feel the five yearly visit to the polling station provides insufficient opportunity for you to have any real influence in national - that is your - affairs?
* Support the introduction of a due process of direct public intervention as the ultimate authority in settling issues of national importance?
* Support a public initiative by way of a referenda voting system as a logical step in the evolution of democratic government?
If you agree.....
Support The Referenda Society - Dedicated to Direct Democracy
Write to :-
The Referenda Society, 29 Cleves Walk, Ilford, Essex IG6 2NQ
Citizens' Initiative
and Referendum
http://www.iniref.org/
or
http://freespace.virgin.net/jamesimac.mcglynn/iniref
*THE CASE FOR INITIATIVE
AND REFERENDUM IN BRITAIN*
1. To inform and educate about
citizens' initiative and referendum (I&R) called by the people.
*VOTE FOR MORE DEMOCRACY*
2. To promote a public debate
about initiative and referendum in Britain.
*WHAT YOU CAN DO*
3. To work for the introduction
of elements of direct democracy, such as I&R and recall of
elected representatives, into the British system of government.
See "The Economist"
August 14th 1999, pp 36, 37 "Politics Brief - The people's
voice" for an excellent analysis of the arguments for and
against the use of referenda.
http://www.economist.com
N.B. This is Premium content, which requires registration or subscription. Schools, colleges and organisations may already have a subscription:
The case for referendums
Is the growing use of referendums a threat to democracy or its salvation? The fifth article in our series on changes in mature democracies examines the experience so far, and the arguments for and against letting voters decide political questions directly.
(From The Economist print edition) Aug 12th 1999
[Although the dates differ slightly, it is the same article!]
Queen's University, Belfast:
Preferendum voting for conflict
resolution:
http://www.qub.ac.uk/mgt/papers/prefer/
More on the Preferendum:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/farel_bradbury/#page_8
One objection to direct democracy that is sometimes raised is that the majority of people would vote for capital punishment. Jonathan Freedland addresses this in his book 'Bring Home the Revolution' (Fourth Estate Ltd., 1998, ISBN 1-85702-547-4):
"Opinion polls show Americans and Britons with remarkably similar views on capital punishment. In the US, most surveys show three out of four people in favour of it, while a 1996 poll for MORI put the British figure at 76 per cent. Accordingly, the wheels of US democracy have turned and capital punishment is now practised in all but twelve of America's fifty states. Yet in Britain we do not have the death penalty. As these polls show, opponents of judicial killing have hardly won the argument among the British people. Instead our political system has simply failed to express the popular will. If the pro-execution figure was below 50 per cent, then perhaps Britain could justifiably praise itself as a society of compassionate humanitarians. Until then, what is often a cause for self-congratulation - with progressive Britons imagining ours to be a more civilised society than the US - should perhaps be a trigger for self-doubt." (page 31)
I am cautious about opinion
poll results on capital punishment. If the majority of people really were in favour of capital punishment they would surely vote for the parties that do support it, but this has not happened.
Responding to a pollster or
questionnaire where the effect is zero is completely different
to actually voting for capital punishment knowing that you are
making the decision.
Nonetheless, it should be of great concern that our political
system is content to have a situation where the apparent choice
of the majority is ignored. If this occurs on one major issue,
it must apply to many more. This effectively makes voting for
a representative a charade. Do we need wise people with time to
consider issues for us? - sounds like an argument for an hereditary
House of Lords!
Parliament has imposed its decision, but it still needs to win
the argument. If we consider it more important to have the right
decision, even if the majority disagree, we have to be honest
and acknowledge that we have rejected democracy. Essentially this
approach is arguing that the ends (abolition of capital punishment)
justify the means (representation instead of direct democracy).
Presumably those who reject direct democracy on this basis would
reject representation if Parliament still imposed capital punishment.
Judging direct democracy on the resulting decisions is similar
to the arguments against extending the right to vote to the working
class, and then to women, that they would not make the right decisions.
Democracy is about choices and preferences. It is not about right and wrong, because democracy necessarily requires that all participants will accept an opposing viewpoint if that is supported by the majority.
Another objection to direct democracy is that it is conservative, because a referendum for a reform often loses - people don't like change. Perhaps the purpose of democracy, whether representative or direct, is to be conservative and slow - to restrain an all-powerful monarchy or government from imposing their whims on the people. When representatives do not reflect voters opinions adequately, the democratic process has broken down.
Hitler used referenda to gain endorsement for his policies, so this is cited as an argument against direct democracy. Strangely, the fact that he gained power in the first place through the representative system is not put forward as a reason to avoid representation!
You need more than one letter to make a word
Because one vote is not enough
More than one word to make a sentence
One vote does not make a democracy
More than one sentence to make a paragraph
One vote in 4 years is a waste of time!
More than one paragraph to make a chapter
One vote to take away my choices
More than one chapter to make a book
I need more than one vote to share my ideas.
An article on Democracy by Anthony Davis, including a suggestion that Members of Parliament should vote by secret ballot. If the secret ballot removes coercion and corruption from the electorate, it is even more vital to ensure the integrity of our representatives.
Report of a local referendum in Swaffham
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1438419/Christopher-Booker%27s-Notebook.html
orhttp://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/voter/swaffham.htm
For direct democracy in Europe, see the Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe: http://www.iri-europe.org
For worldwide direct democracy
activity, see: http://democracy.mkolar.org/DDlinks.html
Power Inquiry
Power is an independent inquiry to look at the state of British Democracy. Power is launched by the Joseph Rowntree Trusts to mark their centenary year.
The Power Commission, chaired by Helena Kennedy QC, will meet over the next year to consider evidence generated through an ambitious programme of public engagement events, and an extensive research programme.
Power has brought together an eclectic mix of commissioners including a former head of Margaret Thatchers Policy Unit, a Radio 1 DJ and the Chairman of the Womens Institute to look at how citizens can secure a real say in the political decisions that affect our lives.
On the launch of the Commission, Helena Kennedy QC said:
It is time to face the fact that low participation in formal politics is now a serious problem threatening to undermine our democracy.
The issue is not just voter turnout, as bad as that is, the political parties have been haemorrhaging members since the 1960s and polls show that people feel they have little or no influence over politicians once they are elected. When a government presides over two of the lowest general election turnouts and the two biggest street demonstrations since 1945, its time to start asking and answering hard questions about why politics is failing to engage with the people of Britain through the traditional channels.
For more information, visit the Power website http://www.powerinquiry.org
British Columbia (Canada) Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform http://www.citizensassembly.bc.ca/public 160 people were selected at random to form the Citizens' Assembly, to consider Electoral Reform for the province. Their resulting proposal will be put to a referendum on May 17, 2005.
Unlock Democracy
Unlock Democracy is the new campaign of Charter 88 and the New Politics Network
http://www.new-politics.com
Useful reference material making the case for some form of direct democracy:
"Rebalancing Democracy" article in Citizen Magazine, Autumn 2007:
http://www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/?page_id=491
or
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/voter/RebalDem.pdf
Booklet published August 2007:
"Taking the Initiative: The case for citizen-led decision making"
http://www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/index.php?tag=direct-democracy
or
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/voter/NPNIni.pdf
Citizen magazine September 2006 includes an article which argues that citizens should be allowed to be more involved in the decision-making process, it can be downloaded at:
http://www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/?cat=48&paged=2
or
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/voter/0609sus.pdf
|
http://www.makemyvotecount.org.uk  |
A different approach is taken by the Protest Vote Party
...and if you don't want to vote:
Our opinions are not one-dimensional, capable of being represented somewhere on a line from 'left' to 'right', see:
http://www.politicalcompass.org/
"Welcome to The Political
Compass. There's abundant evidence for the need of it. The old
one-dimensional categories of 'right' and 'left' , established
for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly of
1789, are overly simplistic for today's complex political landscape.
For example, who are the 'conservatives' in today's Russia? Are
they the unreconstructed Stalinists, or the reformers who have
adopted the right-wing views of conservatives like Margaret Thatcher
? On the standard left-right scale, how do you distinguish leftists
like Stalin and Gandhi? It's not sufficient to say that Stalin
was simply more left than Gandhi. There are fundamental political
differences between them that the old categories on their own
can't explain. Similarly, we generally describe social reactionaries
as 'right-wingers', yet that leaves left-wing reactionaries like
Robert Mugabe and Pol Pot off the hook."
John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw, Notts. has held mini referenda of his constituents on particular issues. I understand that other local political parties were involved in organising these, to my mind an example of how referenda can be a co-operative, unifying process, rather than the artificial divisions of party politics. Please encourage your own MP to follow his example.
The report says that for Independent MP Clare Short referendums are an essential tool to be used to help reinvigorate an alienated public dissatisfied with current political arrangements that they often feel are damaging British democracy. She highlighted examples like the Iraq War protests to illustrate that people believe that they no longer have a voice that political elites listen to. A referendum could possibly be a way of reconnecting the public with important political debates.
A group of Conservative MPs are promoting direct democracy as part of their policy ideas:
Diana Wallis - Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber has a particular interest in issues of direct democracy: http://www.dianawallismep.org.uk/pages/aboutdiana.html
In 2006 Bob Russell, Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester put forward a Bill to require a local authority to hold a referendum about a matter of major local importance for which it is responsible if one tenth of its electorate demand the holding of such a referendum; and for connected purposes. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/voter/russell.htm
The Green Party include the use of referenda as part of their Principles of Government:
"PA252 Legislation will be introduced to provide for referenda to be held on any government decision at the instance of a prescribed percentage of that body's electorate.
PA253 When a Bill of Rights has been enacted, a prescribed percentage of the citizens of any area shall be able to take a Citizens' Initiative, whereby they place a proposition on a ballot paper for popular vote. Should the proposition succeed the result will, subject to the law, be binding on the relevant government body."
see: http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/mfsspa.html#PA252
Revised September 2008