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The Elections are over, now let's start to
vote!
That
would be our comment now that the elections in Italy and England are over.
The result of the elections may lead to some small changes in the life of
the ordinary citizen but we think that the permanent impact on everyday
life will be modest at best. The faces of the politicians may change, some
egos will be bruised while some will be boosted but in the end the big
questions related to the cost effectiveness and quality of government
services will not be answered in any conclusive fashion.
This should come as no surprise to anyone who questions the viability of
the current system of representative government which is an ineffective
parody of democracy.
Once every few years the citizen is asked to participate in a box-ticking
exercise and select one option among a very limited and never-changing
menu of political parties. The voter is basically expected to give carte
blanche to a party to do as they please during the term in office.
Electoral promises are treated as an inconvenient hindrance and the only
check on government tend to be the media (who often also follow an agenda
of their own).
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What is democratic?
A different definition
Power to the citizens
We are advocating a
radical
shift in the balance of power
■ ELECTORAL
REFORM
Electoral
Law - Does it matter?
The recent political mini-crises in Italy led politicians and commentators
to argue that (another) change in the electoral law would be the solution to
Italy's problems.
more...
■ REFERENDUMS
Why qualifying quorum is
necessary part of referendum
Yesterday the
Portuguese were given the chance to vote on the introduction of a more liberal
abortion regime.
more...
■ PARLIAMENT
Taxpayer to fund propaganda
Another small but typical example for the generosity with which
parliamentarians spend other people's money
more...
■ PETITIONS
The problem with petitions - or should we say the problem with politicians?
A recent article in The Guardian by Denis MacShane repeated a number
of arguments that professional politicians love to parade against the
introduction of direct democracy.
more...
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