Democracy

Democracy is in trouble. The biggest problem is low voter turnout. In the latest state elections to vote on the Texas constitution, only 3% of eligible voters showed up. And then people wonder why they are losing abortion and other rights...

Convicted felons often lose their voting rights. In an ideal democracy, that should never be the case. Felons are people who are convicted for breaking laws. Most of the time, those laws are fair and reasonable. But what if they were not? Assume a very stupid law were to take effect. A law that a significant number of people would not respect. A bunch of people would be sent to jail, and they would lose their ability to vote and change the law. The system of checks and balances would be gone, and a bad law would continue to exist, sending ever more people to jail. A possible example would be drug laws.

A worrying development is that some people want to use a small majority (which often is not even real) to impose unnecessary restrictions on political minorities.

In an ideal democracy, everybody would vote. A good way to achieve that, is to include the vote on tax returns. After all, everybody must pay taxes. The tax form could contain selected information about the candidates and what they stand for. Proposed legislation as well as legislation they have sponsored or supported in the past.

Democracy is in danger when the legislature favors one special interest group over another.

People don't vote because it is a pain to vote. People don't have the time anymore like they used to. The danger of this situation, is tha rather than reflecting a broad sentiment of the population, votes increasingly relect a very narrow, fanatic viewpoint.

The biggest problem democracy faces in America, is the abysmal voter turnout. This needs to be improved. Ideas are

• One yearly vote for all elections
• Standadized literature about every candidate
• Combining ballots with tax returns
• Voting over the Internet

There is a disturbing trend threatening our democracy. When certain things cannot be made illegal, but enough people dislike them, they are effectively restricted using bureaucracy, lawsuits and bogus safety concerns. Examples are

• Alcohol
• Pornography and nudity
• Cigarettes
• Guns
• Abortion

The voting process is too complicated. To make democracy work better, people will have to be able to vote over the Internet.

Characteristics of any true democracy are:

• Freedom of association
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of the Press
• Freedom of Religion, or separation between Church and State
• A decentralized government, as small as possible
• Maximum freedom to the individual

Tax returns could be an ideal way to solicit the pulic's input.

Voting should be representative in terms of lifestyles and religious beliefs.

People need a centralized, convenient way to vote, as well as simple, concise information on candidates.

Democracy is not working, because voting is too complicated. You should be able to do it from home, over the Internet.

Mobility benefits democracy. If you live in a place and you don't like the law, vote to change it. If that does not work, move somewhere else. There is plenty of opportunity all over the world.

In a democracy, eventually all power should go back to the people.

An overriding principle in politics should be to respect the choice of the people. Elections should not be artificially undone, like was attempted when Clinton was impeached because of the Lewinsky affair. Similarly, the justice system should not be used as a substitute for legislation to outlaw activities which some find objectionable. That was clearly the case in all the lawsuits against the cigarette industry.

Democracy tends to work best when people are educated. Because educated people understand better how a country is supposed to work, and they tend to participate more in the democratic process.