Libertarian Debate on Direct Democracy municipalism Roberto Ehrman
discontent is evident in society on the performance of political parties, their inability to comply with the commitments of their political and legislative agendas, lack of vocational training and the obvious electorización and commodification of political decisions that have little to do with the general interest. In the same vein, is savvy about the act of the executive branch, too much corruption, incompetence, unnecessary centralization, erratic decisions, inflexible and inconsistent.
Finally, the electoral alliances between political parties with diametrically opposite principles (PAN-PRD), provide the public with the latest confirmation that the current system no longer works.
face the current crisis of the representative system in which citizens give up, by a vote, a first-person exercise their political rights for a representative (Congressman, Senator, Chairman) has created new and interesting proposals direct democracy.
Only in the last three terms have been presented over fifty proposed constitutional amendments and laws to promote secondary figures Referendum, Referendum, Initiative People, Revocation of the Mandate. None of them have prospered, and less alone in this regard, proposed by the Executive on 15 December 2009.
It features legal forms of direct democracy or participatory. "
They, and particularly in the Referendum and Plebiscite, is granted citizenship on the one hand, the power to promote or destroy bills and to compel the legislature to discuss them, and on the other the power to ratify, reverse or reject a particular policy measure taken or to be taken by the Executive.
is a revolutionary change in the institutional political system, already implemented successfully in other countries, which say it complements and does not kill the existing representative system.
The question of the merits of the Referendum and Plebiscite and the Revocation of the Mandate, in effect, a plebiscite on Presidential performance, is who or who is entitled to promote it.
In most of the fifty proposals currently under discussion, the Congress, political parties are still those who hold the monopoly of initiative referendum or plebiscite.
The draft executive policy reform proposes only the citizens' initiative, which recognizes the right of citizens to introduce legislative initiatives or constitutional amendments to Congress. Too limited. It is not up to citizens' demands.
What requires citizenship is that their decisions do not pass through the filter of Congress or the Executive. What is required is that citizenship in an organized, mature and have an institutional consensus to force the powers of the Union to take into account their interests, concerns and needs directly, bypassing obstacles, obscurities and personal interests of members of Congress or the Executive.
In particular, Legislative Referendum figure is interesting as giving citizens the right to develop and promote a draft bill, and decide on it, without having to pass through the filter of Congress or the Executive .
mechanism is more incisive than it has been developed for the concrete practice of direct democracy.
need to open the door to the Referendum and Plebiscite, taking care at all if they are citizens or citizens' group, who have the right to initiative.
is the time for this small class which is itself single category of leaders, listen and take into account the governed, and it is time that the governed become politically active and responsible for carrying out the changes required by the country.
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(1) Giuseppe Rensi (1926) Direct Democracy, Ch. VI.
