Occupy: From forum and movement to political force
iniref | 02.12.2011 19:36 | Occupy Everywhere | Birmingham
Direct democracy must become more than debate and agreeing policy in groups. Voting once every few years for an MP is a very ineffective way to run our public affairs. In order to achieve genuine reforms we must introduce those "tools" of citizen-led democracy which can enable us to steer policy continually. For this, regulations must first be drafted for Parliament, leading to a "Democracy Act" which establishes rule by the people.
In order to make sure that the movement for change can continue to be effective we must take into account how political power can be exercised. Voting a political party into power once every few years can choose principles and set a general direction (even these are not always reliable).
The critical movements have shown that many aspects of public policy need to be changed -- it does not matter if precise directions and plans have not been agreed upon at this stage.
The way to control public policy over a period of years and longer is to use democracy for deciding on public issues and policies in addition to electing politicians. The instruments or tools of democracy needed for this job are well known. They include:
# The Proposal. Also known as citizens' proposition or citizens' initiative. If a proposal can gather the support of a large agreed number of voters (electors) then a debate about the proposal must be held in public and parliament (at local level, council). If the proposal is rejected by parliament then a ballot of all the people must be held to decide the matter in legally binding manner.
# Veto Referendum. A government law or policy can be blocked if a large number of voters call for a referendum to veto.
HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT THESE TOOLS OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY GET INTRODUCED?
The reality is that political power is currently monopolised by parliament and government. So we have to put MPs and candidates at future elections under pressure. Direct democracy campaigners must become active, especially in marginal constituencies, to make candidates for parliament promise, if elected, to introduce effective direct democracy.
STRATEGY FOR FUTURE ELECTIONS AND BY-ELECTIONS
Some ideas for action have been worked out, see at
http://www.iniref.org/ the following link:
Elections UK By-elections and General Election 2015? Help the Campaign
Your comments on all of this are welcome!
The critical movements have shown that many aspects of public policy need to be changed -- it does not matter if precise directions and plans have not been agreed upon at this stage.
The way to control public policy over a period of years and longer is to use democracy for deciding on public issues and policies in addition to electing politicians. The instruments or tools of democracy needed for this job are well known. They include:
# The Proposal. Also known as citizens' proposition or citizens' initiative. If a proposal can gather the support of a large agreed number of voters (electors) then a debate about the proposal must be held in public and parliament (at local level, council). If the proposal is rejected by parliament then a ballot of all the people must be held to decide the matter in legally binding manner.
# Veto Referendum. A government law or policy can be blocked if a large number of voters call for a referendum to veto.
HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT THESE TOOLS OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY GET INTRODUCED?
The reality is that political power is currently monopolised by parliament and government. So we have to put MPs and candidates at future elections under pressure. Direct democracy campaigners must become active, especially in marginal constituencies, to make candidates for parliament promise, if elected, to introduce effective direct democracy.
STRATEGY FOR FUTURE ELECTIONS AND BY-ELECTIONS
Some ideas for action have been worked out, see at
http://www.iniref.org/ the following link: Elections UK By-elections and General Election 2015? Help the Campaign
Your comments on all of this are welcome!
iniref
e-mail:
info@iniref.org
Homepage:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/dd-gb
Comments
Hide the following 5 comments
the reality is
02.12.2011 19:44
x
!!!
03.12.2011 12:02
Rob
Indypendent minded people should campaign for useable direct democracy
03.12.2011 17:51
See collection of arguments and helpful links via
iniref
e-mail:
info@iniref.org
Homepage:
http://iniref.wordpress.com/
'usable' ?
06.12.2011 15:26
Rob
Useable direct democracy
08.12.2011 18:30
No, your impression is inaccurate. You are missing some major components of our proposals.
A recent summary is here, Campaign Aims: Power to the People. Essential principles of governance outlined.
Look, you may not have noticed but it is clear that governing elites are terrified of direct democracy. Even the non-binding citizens' referendum in the Localism Bill failed to survive the anti-lobby. And look what just happened to the Greek prime minister after he tried to hand an important decision about finance and banking to the electorate!
You have missed some essentials in our proposals. We call for binding ballots (referenda) which can be triggered by the electorate. This would bring a fundamental constitutional reform by handing back political power, public "sovereignty" to the people. Prevailing dogma in public law asserts that sovereignty belongs to "the queen in parliament", whatever that may be.
The democracy tools which we propose would enable the electorate to write or unwrite law and change constitution. Once we have those tools it will be open to creative people to develop policy proposals and argue for their worth in order to achieve radical reforms.
iniref
e-mail:
info@iniref.org
Homepage:
http://www.iniref.org/latest.html