by Richard Spanton
The Death of Democracy: Long Live Democracy!
A system in which the people propose and vote for major issues requires a government to implement the outcome, not one keen to interfere with it. With recent technological advancements, something like this seems far more plausible. Simply ticking a box on a computer would suffice for the vote, meaning that major expenses involved in other referendums would not apply. It would essentially be a “dictatorship of the people”, as is often referred by Marxist theorists.
One of the counter arguments to this form of
‘government’ is that people are relatively
spontaneous, reacting to issues quickly and
without real consideration of possible outcomes.
This problem has been exaggerated by the media
which has maintained relative control over the
zeitgeist, and has been the ignition for firing up
people’s frustration over certain issues. The
obvious solution to this is a referendum on
what newspapers can print; and possibly a
nationalised newspaper.
Such a referendum would undoubtedly stir up heated discussion regarding the impeachment of the overly sacrosanct nicety that is the freedom of the press. But the freedom of the press has manifested itself in a way that means a select group of good businessmen have a disproportionate level of control over public opinion, meaning it actually prevents freedom of thought. What would be preferable is a deliberative democracy to compliment this form of direct democracy, in which people with conflicting opinions are given a platform to debate their own point of view; this would then be broadcast to the population at large through different mediums.
A similar style of government did exist in ancient Athens, and was proven to be relatively successful (performances by political satirists took on the role of the media today). However since then, no political system has been run in such a manner. The UK’s People's Administration Direct Democracy, are the first mainstream political party to be committed to such a democracy. It would be a complete revolution insofar as people could decide on issues that affect them most, rather than having them dictated by a select group of individuals.
The upcoming referendum on Scottish Independence shows that a public vote can be taken on a variety of issues, not just general elections. But why should public referendums be restricted to a small number of policies? It seems that the public’s opinion is not trusted to decide anything more than the people who govern them; and even there, the trust is limited.
Many people do not feel represented by their government. In the United Kingdom, and most developed countries in the world, governments are in place not because of any particular merit but because they are deemed better than the alternatives. These political parties spend more of their time attempting to remain in power by keeping face than by implementing worthy policies.
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