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A public referendum.

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posted on Mar, 7 2010 @ 12:00 PM
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There is such a thing as Democracy it comes in many different forms. But there is only 1 form of democracy that is truly a government 'for the people, by the people'. It is called Direct Democracy.


Direct democracy, classically termed pure democracy, is a form of democracy and a theory of civics in which sovereignty is lodged in the assembly of all citizens who choose to participate. Depending on the particular system, this assembly might pass executive motions, make laws, elect or dismiss officials, and conduct trials. Direct democracy stands in contrast to representative democracy, where sovereignty is exercised by a subset of the people, usually on the basis of election. Deliberative democracy incorporates elements of both direct democracy and representative democracy.

Some anarchists (usually social anarchists) have advocated forms of direct democracy as an alternative to the centralized state and capitalism; however, others (such as individualist anarchists) have criticized direct democracy and democracy in general for ignoring the rights of the minority, and instead have advocated a form of consensus decision-making. Libertarian Marxists, however, fully support direct democracy in the form of the proletarian republic and see majority rule and citizen participation as virtues. The Young Communist League, USA in particular refers to representative democracy as "bourgeois democracy," implying that they see direct democracy as "true democracy."

en.wikipedia.org...

There is only 1 country in the world that actually has direct democracy and that is Switzerland.


Switzerland's voting system is unique among modern democratic nations in that Switzerland practices direct democracy (also called half-direct democracy), in which any citizen may challenge any law at any time. In addition, in most cantons all votes are cast using paper ballots that are manually counted.

Approximately four times a year, voting occurs over various issues; these include both referenda, where policies are directly voted on by people, and elections, where the populace votes for officials. These votes take place during the weekend. Federal, cantonal and municipal issues are polled simultaneously, and the majority of people cast their votes by mail.

Only 25% to 45% of all eligible citizens typically cast their votes, but controversial proposals (such as EU membership or abolishing the army) have seen voter turnouts of about 60%.

en.wikipedia.org...

Just look at the quality of life they have recieved that may be in part by direct democracy.

Human Development Index: #9 0.960
Unemployment rate: June, 2009 3.6%
Happy Planet Index: #52 48.1
Quality of Life: #3 81
Life expectancy: #9 80.85
Education: #39 0.936
Homicide: 2.26/100,000
Income: #7 $42,948
Stability: #174 21.2
Democracy: #8 9.15
Corruption: #5 9.0
Press Freedom: #7 1.00
Privacy: #17 2.4
Property rights: #6 8.2
Nation perception: #8 64.9
Income inequality: 33.7
Peacefull: #18 1.393
World cities quality of life:
#2 Zurich 108
#3 Geneva 107.9
#9 Bern 106.5


So as you can see Switzerland is one of the best countries in the world to live in. Could this be an effect of direct democracy? I believe it is and life in Switzerland will only be getting better while ours gets worse.

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[edit on 3/7/10 by Misoir]



posted on Mar, 7 2010 @ 12:25 PM
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Personally I believe they live better because they are socialist. As for direct democracy it is because Sweden has a population of 7,630,605 where as the United States has over 300 million. It wouldn't work for a bigger country. Just like socialized medicine won't work in the U.S.A because we do not have closed borders. But still a good post
but ya i'd say that they indeed do live better as a majority than U.S. citizens.

[edit on 7-3-2010 by XxRagingxPandaxX]

[edit on 7-3-2010 by XxRagingxPandaxX]

[edit on 7-3-2010 by XxRagingxPandaxX]



posted on Mar, 7 2010 @ 12:36 PM
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Is not rule-by-wealthy collectives the eventual consequence of having a democracy; a control system for the foolish:

The two political parties or social classes that vied for power in classical Athens, as in most other Greek city states, were the oligarchs and the democrats. The oligarchs tried to establish a state in which only owners of substantial amounts of property could vote and hold public office, while the democrats insisted that all male citizens have the same rights. "An oligarchy is said to be that in which the few and the wealthy, and a democracy that in which the many and the poor are the rulers," as Aristotle put it in his Politics.

Argumentum ad crumenam
The fallacy of believing that money is a criterion of correctness; that those with more money are more likely to be right. The opposite of Argumentum ad Lazarum.

Argumentum ad novitatem
This is the opposite of the Argumentum ad Antiquitatem; it's the fallacy of asserting that something is better or more correct simply because it is new, or newer than something else.

Argumentum ad numerum
This fallacy is closely related to the argumentum ad populum. It consists of asserting that the more people who support or believe a proposition, the more likely it is that that proposition is correct.

Argumentum ad populum (Appeal to the people or gallery)
This is known as Appealing to the Gallery, or Appealing to the People. You commit this fallacy if you attempt to win acceptance of an assertion by appealing to a large group of people. This form of fallacy is often characterized by emotive language.

Democracy is legalized fraud.



posted on Mar, 7 2010 @ 12:57 PM
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reply to post by XxRagingxPandaxX
 


Switzerland, not Sweden.

But i agree with the OP. I've never been to Switzerland, but from what i've read, the way they do things over there could teach other countries a thing or too.



posted on Mar, 7 2010 @ 01:17 PM
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O sorry lol feel kinda dumb now




 
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