Europe leads the way on direct democracy

We’ve long known that the Swiss are big-fans but now it seems the Germans too are getting the hang of direct democracy. The Economist reports on the enthusiasm of campaigners for Tempelhof airport, who urged Berliners to vote yes in a referendum to keep open the airport; (which is seen as a symbol of the Berlin airlift of 1948-49). On the same day the citizens of Schwerin voted to oust their mayor for mishandling an investigation into the starvation of a five-year-old girl, while the Bavarian branch of the trade union confederation started collecting signatures on May 1 for a referendum on a minimum wage.

Supporters argue that direct democracy is stepping in where traditional democracy has failed. Membership of political parties has collapsed, as has trust in politicians – trends that should be recognisable to any student of British politics. A 2006 survey showed that nearly half of Germans think elections give them no say over government policies and that some 80% wanted referendums at national level.Yet in spite of such figures opposition still remains; most states do not allow votes on such issues as spending and taxation, and legislatures can sometimes overturn referendum results or have them modified in the courts.

The Swiss model certainly indicates that direct democracy improves decision-making. Lars Feld of the University of Heidelberg claims that Switzerland's taxes and spending are lower than otherwise, and its labour productivity higher, precisely because the Swiss can vote on fiscal issues. Now that Germany is adopting similar solutions in reponse to voter apathy, the qustion surely is, when will the UK catch up?

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written by Steve Giess, May 14, 2008

It is interesting that the two counties that have a love of 'order and rules' also have a mechanism for the citizen to force re-thinks. I suppose it come from the ancient Swiss concept that cantonal government is no more than an expression of the will of the people expressed once a year at a direct voting meeting. The EU hates it!!

Let's not forget that some states in the USA have similar mechanisms.

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written by anomdebus, May 14, 2008

One way I have considered previously to make more direct democracy possible in a larger country (such as the US) would be to implement a proxy voting system. It could be similar to the parliamentary system where you require the direct support of a plurality of proxy votes to stay in power. At any time, an individual voter could change their proxy and therefore their support. This would allow people to have a more direct say without requiring everying to spend hours a day reading and voting on laws. It would be interesting to see how an idea like that develops. I can see that a professional proxy class would develop and they would often be wedded to organizations like AARP or the NRA. Some people would decry this, but I don't see it being worse than what we have now, and in some ways better.

Incidently, I think this could be a way of making choices for each function of government closer to the will of the people. In this case, you would have direct support for each of the main branches of the executive. The problem this aims to rectify is, at least in the US, the two main parties may have the right idea in different areas, but you have to choose one omnibus package. In the interest of stability, you could make it so that these sub-elected officials less responsive to the electorate to avoid problems such as electing the "Department of Eating Cake" as well as the "Department of Having It Too".

Written by Simon Maynard
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
We’ve long known that the Swiss are big-fans but now it seems the Germans too are getting the hang of direct democracy. The Economist reports on the enthusiasm of campaigners for Tempelhof airport, who urged Berliners to vote yes in a referendum to keep open the airport; (which is seen as a symbol of the Berlin airlift of 1948-49). On the same day the citizens of Schwerin voted to oust their mayor for mishandling an investigation into the starvation of a five-year-old girl, while the Bavarian branch of the trade union confederation started collecting signatures on May 1 for a referendum on a minimum wage. Supporters argue that direct democracy is stepping in where traditional democracy has failed. Membership of political parties has collapsed, as has trust in politicians – trends that should be recognisable to any student of British politics. A 2006 survey showed that nearly half of Germans think elections give them no say over government policies and that some 80% wanted referendums at national level.Yet in spite of such figures opposition still remains; most states do not allow votes on such issues as spending and taxation, and legislatures can sometimes overturn referendum results or have them modified in the courts. The Swiss model certainly indicates that direct democracy improves decision-making. Lars Feld of the University of Heidelberg claims that Switzerland's taxes and spending are lower than otherwise, and its labour productivity higher, precisely because the Swiss can vote on fiscal issues. Now that Germany is adopting similar solutions in reponse to voter apathy, the qustion surely is, when will the UK catch up? Bookmark Comments (2) Subscribe to this comment's feed ... written by Steve Giess, May 14, 2008 It is interesting that the two counties that have a love of 'order and rules' also have a mechanism for the citizen to force re-thinks. I suppose it come from the ancient Swiss concept that cantonal government is no more than an expression of the will of the people expressed once a year at a direct voting meeting. The EU hates it!! Let's not forget that some states in the USA have similar mechanisms. ... written by anomdebus, May 14, 2008 One way I have considered previously to make more direct democracy possible in a larger country (such as the US) would be to implement a proxy voting system. It could be similar to the parliamentary system where you require the direct support of a plurality of proxy votes to stay in power. At any time, an individual voter could change their proxy and therefore their support. This would allow people to have a more direct say without requiring everying to spend hours a day reading and voting on laws. It would be interesting to see how an idea like that develops. I can see that a professional proxy class would develop and they would often be wedded to organizations like AARP or the NRA. Some people would decry this, but I don't see it being worse than what we have now, and in some ways better. Incidently, I think this could be a way of making choices for each function of government closer to the will of the people. In this case, you would have direct support for each of the main branches of the executive. The problem this aims to rectify is, at least in the US, the two main parties may have the right idea in different areas, but you have to choose one omnibus package. In the interest of stability, you could make it so that these sub-elected officials less responsive to the electorate to avoid problems such as electing the "Department of Eating Cake" as well as the "Department of Having It Too". Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment. Powered by Azrul's Jom Comment for Joomla!