Rationale for Direct Democracy _____When the United States Constitution was written, the forefathers wrote an all-encompassing and a sweeping document that is still relevant, has stood the test of time, and has withstood the difficulties, controversies, and amendments that have occurred during its existence. But this document was written around 1776 and the society at the time was very different from the society of today. The forefathers, even with all of their foresight and all-inclusiveness were not able to factor in dramatic future changes in technology and, resultingly, in society. They could not have foreseen a future with telephones, radios, televisions, cars, airplanes, jet engines, rockets, computers, the Internet, etc. Now that the new technologies are here and will continue to grow, advance, and be perfected, we need to examine how this affects society, the government, and the Constitution. _____In its military campaigns the government of the United States says it wants to promote and protect democracy. But is the United States a democracy? The U.S. is a republic or a representative democracy. An example of a democracy within the United States federal government is the U.S. Congress where the members debate and vote usually for a simple majority to win a case or a referendum or to pass a bill. When a presidential election is held today well over 100 million people can vote. The United States Constitution created the electoral college for, I have heard, several reasons and one of them is to prevent mob rule or for a government run by the uneducated (though now, most people are receiving high levels of education in comparison with the past of the forefathers). Another possible reason that the electoral college was institutionalized was because, at the time the Constitution was written, if a national election were to be held, tallying the votes would be an almost impossible task. Then, a sack of votes, or the results of local voting, would have to be sent by a messenger riding horseback. Just carrying the votes from California (or Georgia , during the time of the 13 colonies) to Washington , D.C. could take weeks, that is, if they ever got to their destination. Today, we live in a very different world where messages are transmitted instantaneously worldwide via telephones, computers, or the Internet. _____Direct democracy is a concept which began in ancient Athens , Greece where all citizens voted directly on legislative issues. In the modern world, direct democracy was previously considered impractical or impossible to implement on a large scale but it is now possible with the advent of computer and Internet technologies. I think some version of what I am proposing will happen in the future since people should determine their own future and methods of government which is, after all, the meaning of democracy even though there is always resistance and skepticism to new ideas � though beginning 2500 years ago, democracy can hardly be considered a new idea. The same people who are concerned about Internet fraud in voting are probably unconcerned about online banking transactions, which is how practically all funds are transferred nowadays, and the same type of technology can be used in Internet voting. Also, perhaps some legislators feel that their jobs and roles are threatened but this idea involves adding direct democracy to the representative legislatures and not replacing them. |