Press release: Memo about direct democracy to: Occupy Wall Street and Friends

iniref i&r ~ gb

Direct Democracy in Practice
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How can the momentum of the Occupy movement and related movements be maintained?

One part of the solution can be to give ourselves effective *tools* of democracy and governance. There is a widespread consensus that the people should be able to overrule their "representative" politicians if they choose to do so. This is an expression of direct democracy, a call which resonates through creative movements of Arabian, Asian, European and American countries. Using this sort of democracy we could make "ordinary" laws and also change constitutional law, reserving our right to supervise the exercising of government power.

The town meeting is a very old and well-established form of collective debate and decision making. In future we could promote this sort of democracy, with citizen meetings in city districts, villages and towns. To cope with larger numbers and areas we could use citizens' proposal (initiative), which can lead to a demand for legally binding referendum. The citizens' proposal can be used to propose law, to block or veto unwanted government policy and also to sack elected politicians who perform badly.

This is an idea "whose time has come"! If you agree then spread it widely.

More via  http://iniref.wordpress.com/
background at  http://www.iniref.org/
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About iniref

We advocate the introduction of direct democratic procedures such as citizens' initiative, referendum, and recall in the countries of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. See our web site for proposals, campaign resources, an offer to provide speakers, workshops and conference reports. Web site:  http://www.iniref.org/ Contact:  info@iniref.org Discuss at:  http://iniref.wordpress.com/ Tags: direct democracy, ballot, veto, lawmaking, town meeting, plebiscite, sovereignty, self-determination, radical, campaign, lobby, education, politics, constitution, funding ;-)