If a referendum-style government were practical, would you support it?

Question

Basically every decision would be put up to a popular vote. I imagine it would take getting used to, and there would be a learning curve. It would mean that there would be no more elected representatives to hold accountable -- just the voters. If this were practical, would you support it?

Answer 1

Good lord, no.  Nothing would ever get passed.

Just the amount of time it would take to get the whole country to vote on one thing would be insane. Look how crazy election day is every few years, can you imagine that times 365days or 30days or 26wks or 13wks depending on how often you put bills up for a vote.

Also, how would you thrash out what is actually voted on. Now there are committees that do that.

Answer 2

It is not feasible for the following reasons:-

1) Governance is a complex matter and therefore it is best left to the judgment of the few who are elected.

2) Government is best governed when it is left to the discretion of the elite and and the knowledgeable. The public cannot be expected to be knowing all about the nuances of administration.

However, I agree on certain important issues of national importance, there should be a provision for consulting the electorate directly.

Answer 3

This referendum style government is indeed possible. Indeed the structure for a referendum style government already exist, at least on the local level. In New England towns have a meeting every year to act on local issues. This meeting is called the Annual Town Meeting of (Your Town). Sometimes during the year there can be Special Town Meetings. Everything that comes before an Town Meeting instructs the official on what policies to follow!!!! Any registered voter who can gather enough signatures can put an article to be voted on by the Town Meeting. This kind of Town Meeting is called an Open Town Meeting, and goes back in history to the days before the Revolutionary War, and indeed even further to the small towns in england where many of the first settlers came from.

The day may be approaching where this is possible on a larger scale,  because of the presence of internet communications, but there are a lot of things that need to worked out before this is accomplished. I do not see this anytime in the near future.

WE ARE STILL HAVING PROBLEMS GETTING ELECTRONIC (COMPUTERIZED) BALLOT BOXES TO COUNT VOTES ACCURATE!!!    



See the House Judiciary Committee meeting of August 20, 2001!!!!!!!

HOW TO MAKE OVER ONE MILLION VOTES DISAPPEAR

Answer 4

Did you ever stop to consider that everything would depend on people like us? - the ones who are creating these often inane questions and answers? We would be doomed for sure.