News

We Have Too Little Voice in Our Form of Democracy
By Jesus Rivas
The Kentucky Herald
May 15, 2008

In a recent interview on ABC, Vice President Dick Cheney was presented with the fact that two-thirds of Americans think the Iraq war is not worth fighting. Cheney responded, "So?"

It is shocking that he does not care about the will of the people, but the truth is that he does not have to care. This is a representative democracy, and the people have no say except on Election Day.

The problem is that for the last 200 years, we have been hoodwinked under the soft tyranny of representative democracy, and very few of us consider whether there is an alternative.

There is: participatory democracy.

Most Americans think "participatory democracy" means getting involved in politics, writing to elected officials or running for office. But participating actively in representative democracy does not make that form of government less limited.

In representative democracy, the people write a blank check to an elected official. The people have no way to hold politicians accountable, except through drastic actions, such as a popular uprising or drawn-out impeachment processes that still depend on elected officials.

In a participatory democracy, elected officials are not the deciders; rather, they are spokesmen for the will of the people.

Let's suppose a person wants to pass a law, say, making torture illegal. The person has to get the ear of a politician, who, if he likes it, introduces it in the House. Usually the bill must then get a committee's approval before being considered by the entire House. If the bill passes, it goes to the Senate, where it must survive a similar process. If the bill does, it goes to the president, who can veto it.

If he does, the bill goes back to the Congress for another vote. If it gets 66 percent of the votes in both chambers, it becomes law. But even then, the president can attach a signing statement bypassing the law.

This whole process gives tremendous power to all the elected officials and hardly any to the people.

Let's look at what would happen in a participatory democracy, like Venezuela.

Any group of citizens can ask for a vote on an issue; it takes only 5 percent of the electorate to get a referendum on the ballot.

If enough signatures for the petition are gathered, it goes to a vote within 30 days in a nationwide referendum organized by the electoral branch, an independent power of the government.

If approved, the motion becomes law without any elected official having the power to veto or bypass it. In participatory democracy, the people, not politicians, are in the driver's seat.

The 2006 congressional elections were clearly a mandate to end the Iraq war and to get rid of Bush and Cheney. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disregarded the latter part of the mandate and said, "Impeachment is off the table."

Why does she get to decide what is on the table? Did she consult with her constituents?

After two years, we are no closer to getting out of Iraq, and none of the presidential candidates shows any real intention of ending the war. The voters do not have any real choice for president since none of the candidates will carry out that mandate. It is as if voters are hostages of the politicians.

Only participatory democracy offers a fail-proof system in which we do not depend on landing good representatives. If they are good, all the better. If not, the people can make them do the right thing. And if they won't listen, the people can get rid of them.

Thomas Jefferson was a strong advocate for an informed constituency. Clearly, a real democracy will need well-informed people to take the right actions and to make the politicians listen.

As we move through the political process this year, it would be good to think about a deeper change, something beyond a change in names and faces. We can move toward a deeper change where the will of the people becomes the sacred law it was meant to be under the Constitution.

Back >>>

NOTE: The Venezuela Information Office is dedicated to informing the American public about contemporary Venezuela, and receives its funding from the government of Venezuela. More information is available from the FARA office of the Department of Justice in Washington DC.

Venezuela Information Office
2000 P Street NW, Suite 240 Washington, DC 20036  tel: (202) 347-8081  fax: (202) 223-8029