Direct Democracy, (the Initiative and Referendum system),
an introduction.
Direct Democracy systems allow the people of a country or state to make laws by creating their own proposals for law and then deciding by referendum whether or not those proposals are accepted. The process usually starts with the collection of a minimum number of signatures from electors within a specified time. If this is achieved the proposal goes to a binding referendum. In this situation the people of a country are the sovereign power. The system can be seen working in Switzerland and also in some states in the USA.
In Switzerland referendums are initiated by the collection of a 100,000 signature petition, the signatures having to be collected within an eighteen month period. If a proposal gets to referendum the government is allowed to put a counter proposal, usually something more moderate than the original proposal, and the voters decide what they want. Direct Democracy is also referred to as the Initiative and Referendum system with this being shortened to the I &R system.
The one European country that regularly uses direct democracy, Switzerland, is one of the happiest, healthiest and wealthiest countries in the world.
Direct Democracy in Wales
We expect the introduction of an I & R system to have a moderating effect on party politics in Wales because members of the Senedd will know that if a political party passes a law that people don't want then other parties will be able to go to the people of Wales and get it overturned at referendum. The opposite is also true. If a political party wants a law the largest party doesn't want but the people do then it can be introduced through the use of a referendum. In this situation there's not much point in normal party politics.
Instead of working for their party politicians will start working together for the people of Wales. In Switzerland this cooperation was such that the four main parties were in coalition for about forty years. There's not much point in divisive party politics when the people are the sovereign power in a country.
The introduction of this system wouldn't mean we would have to have lots of referendums. Politicians will know that if they reject good proposals that are then passed at referendum they will have wasted people's time and money by rejecting it. That will cost them votes and no politician wants that. The same applies if laws have to be rejected by referendum. Politicians will have to be much more responsive to the needs of the people of Wales.
Bearing in mind the drama surrounding the Brexit referendum it's understandable that many people will be wary of any system that uses referendums, but there's a big difference between a system that allows politicians to decide what referendums we have and when we have them and one that puts citizen initiated referendums at the heart of a political system.
The sections below cover several aspects of I & R systems. The book 'Guidebook to Direct Democracy' is a free download.
The political system we have, representative democracy, is like any other system. If it's designed well it works well, if not it fails and we see this in Europe where some countries succeed and others struggle. Direct Democracy systems are no different and in this section we look at the rules I & R systems must follow if they are to work well. Click on the button above to find out more.
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Free Download.
Click on the image above to download a free 272 page book on
Direct Democracy.
Published by The Initiative and Referendum Institute Europe, this guidebook is focuses on the I & R system in Switzerland, the system Campaign for Democracy advocates for Wales.
The main rules needed to create a successful I & R system can be found on the 'Safeguards' page.
In this section we look at some of them in greater depth and explain why they are needed. We also look at some of the problems we see in places where direct democracy systems are flawed and where there is no reform process, like the one in CfD's system, that can sort out the problems.
The political system we have, representative democracy, is like any other system. If it's designed well it works well, if not it fails and we see this in Europe where some countries succeed and others struggle. Direct Democracy systems are no different and in this section we look at the rules I & R systems must follow if they are to work well. Click on the button above to find out more.
Low turnouts at elections in Wales and Britain are sometimes used as evidence that people aren't interested in politics. The truth is that a lot of sensible people wouldn't want to get involved with a divisive party system that excludes the 99% of the electorate who aren't party members.
I & R systems open up the political process to everyone in a way that party systems never will.
The basic rules needed to create a successful I& R system are on the 'Safeguards' page.
In this section we look at some of them in greater depth and explain why they are needed. We also look at some of the problems we see in places where direct democracy systems are flawed and where there is no reform process, like the one in CfD's system that can sort out the problems.
The four ideas that underpin Campaign for Democracy are,
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Politics is the pursuit of power over others. Politics is inherently immoral.
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An equality of power between people is a solid base on which successful societies can be built.
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Most of us have much in common but we have differences. Both are the product of evolution and both have been essential for human success.
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The only legitimate system of government is one in which the people are the sovereign power.
Politics is the pursuit of power over others.
Politics is often defined as the pursuit of power. We are so used to the system we have that even though we know it doesn't always work very well we accept it as normal. At CfD we redefined it by adding those two extra words, ' Over others'. When it's written in this way it becomes clear that no one should be pursuing power over anyone else. Politics as we know it is an immoral activity.
The logical and moral alternative is one of the key concepts at the heart of Campaign for Democracy, 'Equality of power'.
Equality of power
There are different forms of inequality, some matter, some don't. J.K.Rowling made a billion pounds from the Harry Potter books but we don't mind that, we can see a clear link between her work and the money she made but one that matters and is given little thought is inequality of power. They lead to disproportionate inequalities in income, housing, health, working conditions and these in turn lead to exclusion and alienation. This exclusion can be exploited by divisive leaders whose only interest is the pursuit of attention, money and power. In the worst cases this leads to violence and even war.
Politics, the pursuit of power over others is a poison in our world. The antidote is an equality of power between people.
The evolution of difference
If we are to solve the problems we face we need ideas to come forward from every part of the political spectrum, all of the time. Whatever the problem there's someone somewhere who's got the answer but if that answer doesn't fit the ideology of the current government then the problem doesn't get solved. That needs to change.
Most of us accept that there is no one set of ideas that can lead us to a sustainable and successful future. Our greatest strength is that people have a diversity of views but this didn't just happen by chance. Everything about us is a product of 250,000 years of human evolution and millions of years of pre-human evolution.
We are successful not in spite of our differences, but because of them.
Consent
The only legitimate form of government is one that has been given the explicit approval of the governed and one that the people of a state can change as and when they want it changed. Here in Wales, and the UK, the only choices we get are the ones the politicians give us. That's because we're not a free people, we're subjects. We're the subjects of our various Parliaments. They make the rules for us and they make the rules for themselves. The problem is every time we vote in a Senedd election we say to the politicians in Cardiff, it's OK, you carry on with what you're doing. Participation is consent.
We have withdrawn our consent. If politicians want our votes in those key seats we
want a transfer of power from politicians to people.