Rule of the people by the people.
Now that we can set up referendum programmes by internet, shouldn't politicians/governments seek more consent from the public before introducing new legislation and other important matters which affect our lives......like going to war.
Answers:
YES! We elect politicians based on the expectation that they shall represent our views in their decisions. Naturally, two immediate problems result from this:
(a) politicians nowadays seek prestige/power over the good of the people
(b) many voters aren't as informed as they should and could be
Online referendums won't work. Why? Well, considering the sophistication of computer hackers nowadays, something's bound to go wrong. Moreover, anybody could log on and pretend to be American voicing his/her opinion, even some freaky terrorist guy with a laptop hiding in the mountains. Besides, what politician has the time to look at what some acne-stricken university student wrote on the Internet? I'm being extreme here, I know, but we have to look at the implications of these things before we put them into action.
A final note: democracies are fundamentally flawed in another war - the loudest voice gets heard. And we have to remember that the loudest voices aren't always the ones with the nation's best interests at heart, nor are they the most informed. There's a lot of misinformation out there.
Ideally, we wouldn't have politicians voting for us. Just the three levels of government: municipal (mayors), state (governors), and federal (the president). It would be a lot more efficient.
Only by making it mandatory to vote. I know the civil liberty advocates will quote your freedoms under your constitution.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment