Chris Green: I stood with the protesters as the police batons rained down on them Eyewitness: The police have behaved abominably. This is a non-violent demonstration. Thursday, 17 December 2009  http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/chris-green-i-stood-with-the-protesters-as-the-police-batons-rained-down-on-them-1843071.html

INIREF comments
Brutal treatment of citizens exercising their right to peaceful political expression reflects not only a lack of respect of (elected) authorities for citizens but also weakness of democracy. If "The People" were genuinely in charge of public affairs then public employees would be less likely to (perhaps "only obeying orders") attack citizens without due cause. A way to improve public involvement and control of government is to introduce elements of citizen-led direct democracy. A further benefit of this is that "issues" and worthy causes can be directly addressed. The feelings and arguments articulated in public protests and demonstrations can be developed and formulated as legislative proposals, using "initiative and referendum". Even international affairs can be tackled by state-level direct democracy, mandating politicians to put forward particular policies.

For information and reform campaigns see
 http://www.iniref.org/index.enter.html
 http://www2.prestel.co.uk/rodmell/ John Harvey Direct Democracy
 http://campaignfordemocracy.org.uk/directdemocracyexamples/