Dear Colleagues,
Andrew Jameson <[log in to unmask]> wrote 22 Dec 1999 15:04:49
>Michael Macpherson wrote:
>I referred to possible innovations of direct democratic nature such as
>citizens' law initiative and referendum. Do you hold that citizen-initiated
>direct democratic action in Switzerland or Germany led to ill-treatment of
>travellers and gypsies, anti-semitic behaviour etc.?
>**********************************************************************
>
>No, naturally not and I understand this as a rhetorical question.
>There is obviously much that is praiseworthy in the Swiss way of
>doing things. However it is a little disappointing to find that, even in
>this exemplary participatory system, some quite serious violations
>can take place.
>
>This raises the interesting theoretical consideration that, if the democracy
>was successful in being "representatively" participatory, maybe the greater
>part of the electorate was complicit in certain of these obviously wrong
>decisions.
>
>Andrew Jameson
>ex Lancaster University, UK
There are a few reasons why I think it better not to pursue a mainly
theoretical discussion about direct and indirect democracy here. One is
that it seems, or could become, off-topic for a german studies list.
Secondly, the main purpose of my original post was to make the point that
much knowledge about direct democracy (mainly combined with representative
government), history as well as current progress, is available only in the
german language and little known elsewhere. I do not have the resources to
continue in a way which can do justice to the issues raised. I'll reply
backstage to Andrew Jameson's above points, offering suggestions about how
the debate might continue.
Concrete suggestions:
* Translate the publications of "Mehr Demokratie", e.g. the book Triumph
der BuergerInnen (the story of how direct democracy was introduced at
"communal" level in Bavaria, 1995) and accounts of how real citizens'
democracy has boomed there since then,
* Collate and translate the amazing events around the campaign to improve
participative democracy in the Hansa-city-state Hamburg. From memory: In
1998 over **half a million** citizens of Hamburg voted for the
improvements. Seventy five percent of those who voted. But the improvements
have not become law ....
A new initiative may be of interest to members of this list.
Network Direct Democracy
Initiatives in Europe
1.Network Direct Democracy Initiatives in Europe
2.Netzwerk Direkte Demokratie Initiativen in Europa
3.Red de Iniciativas sobre Democracia Directa en Europa (RIDDE)
4.Réseau d'Initiatives de Démocratie Directe en Europe (RIDDE)
5.Coming soon: Dutch Version
6.Coming soon: Versione Italiano
http://home.t-online.de/home/nddie/home~1.htm
Related to the efforts of Netzwerk Direkte Demokratie is an appeal which I
launched, wearing my "citizen's hat" last summer: People's proposal to
renew democracy http://www.snafu.de/~mjm/reform.html
Sincerely,
Michael Macpherson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Michael Macpherson,
PSAMRA/Integral Studies,
Berlin FRG
tel.: +49 30 262 3768
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
INTEGRAL STUDIES
http://www.snafu.de/~mjm/index.html
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