Home

Blog

Civil Liberty
Coalitions
Constitution
Courts and Judicial System
Electoral Reform
Election Promises
Engaging the Citizen
Europe
Experts
Government
Legislation
Lobbies and Special Interests
Media
Narrow Election Results
Parliament
Party Funding
Petition
Political Parties
Politicians
Politician's Pay
Recall and Term Limit
Referendum
Separation of Powers
Swiss Model
Third Party
Tax and Public Spending
Trust in Government


 

Politicians

Legislation should not be the expression of the will or preference of an individual person (or narrow clique at the top of political parties) who just happens to be responsible for the management of government functions at a particular point in time but the expression of a consensus established after broad debate among all concerned citizens. This consensus should be validated by a referendum (or at least be subject to a facultative referendum in less important legislation).
Today's politicians being in effect a new ruling class. Our proposal for the introduction of comprehensive forms of direct democracy is the only way we can conceive that would be able to help bridge this gap.
 

Political 'Leaders' less important
Today the relative success of political parties is to a large extent a function of the popularity of its leader. Direct Democracy reduces the importance of single individuals as all decisions are ultimately subject to the say-so of the electorate. This will also make it less attractive to individuals who want to achieve political 'power' to fight for dominance in the political arena as their personal room for maneuvre will be severely restricted.

People cannot stand politicians
It is no that people cannot stand politicians in most countries surprise as the political process in most  democracies is subject only to the slightest of democratic control. All a citizen can do every few years is tick a box and support one of a handful of established - and discredited - political parties that are fronted by a narrow clique of professional politicians.

Politicians are the new Establishment
Politicians have replaced the old governing classes during the past 100 years and direct democracy is a necessary counterweight to the New Class that rules without being subject to proper oversight given that there is hardly any separation between Legislative, Executive and Judicial Powers.

Visionaries can be bad for you
The politicians should not be allowed too much freedom. They are not elected to 'impose' their vision on their subjects like some monarch or dictator.
They are elected to look after the administration of the laws and regulations set by the legislative assemblies and ultimately sanctioned by the consent of the people (who will always have the last say due to the right of to start a referendum).
Separation of powers means that the legislature is solely in charge of introducing laws and the government is primarily focused on keeping house and making sure that the machinery of government functions smoothly on a day-by-day basis.
The unhealthy practice that of so-called parliamentary democracies, where legislative and executive power are linked together, makes it all too easy for parties and governments to combine against the interests of the citizens.
Direct democracy would involve citizens directly in the introduction of laws and severely hamper the ambitions of individual politicians.
Some try to explain the dominance of families in the political process of various countries (Kennedy, Bush, Clinton in the USA, Ghandi in India etc) with the fact that the average voter does not have the ability to judge persons on the basis of objective facts alone.
We think that this is more likely to be the consequence of an electoral process that puts to much emphasis on the selection of one leading politician and therefore puts the discussion specific policies into the background when election day comes. Votes are swayed by promises that often are broken anyway when the election has been decided.

More on Politicians

 

Why you should support
Dirdem:

► Are you angry when people want to control your life?

► Are you angry when people want to live off the fruit of your work?

► Are you angry when people want to tell you what to think?

►If your answer is YES to any or all of the above questions then you should support our Movement.

DIRDEM
is more than a traditional Political Party. We do not see this Cause as a career choice - or stepping stone leading to a lucrative career in the private sector.

DIRDEM
is not a Think Tank that publishes lengthy reports that are only read by a few insiders and later disappear in some library of filing cabinet.

DIRDEM
is not a Lobby or Special Interest Group that tries to gain advantage at the expense of other groups of society.

DIRDEM
is not a Religion or Ideology and does not try to make people believe in something except in the belief that no one should be allowed to rule our lives.
 

Decisions you would be able to influence:

By giving the reader examples of recent policy decisions we highlight the dramatic impact the introduction of Direct Democracy would have on the political life of all countries.

All the following decisions where taken without the participation of the affected citizens. Some - if not most - were highly controversial and have a negative effect for at least some major parts of the country's population.

The present system of government not only leaves the citizens powerless in the face of a never-ending tide of legislation, it also inevitably leads to inefficient use of taxpayer's money and a steady erosion of civil liberties.

See what decisions the citizens could influence directly in a proper democratic system