But these are divided by party and keep voting based on those political interests and agenda . If they don't resolve conflicts they object to each other's bills. This prevents writing better policy if all we get are two groups voting yes/no on policies full of flaws and pork, just to get the majority vote in a limited time.
I agree with you on the "flaws, and pork"... One of the problems with this is the approach of loading bills with every wish list item, causing these bills to top 2000 pages, much of which has NOTHING to do with what the bill is supposed to address...My approach would be incremental. First order of business is to limit bills to single issues....Cutting the size and scope of bills would ensure that both sides in our government have to work together to achieve passage...And, we would no longer have to choose between the evils of agenda driven bs, because they would have to put that in separate bills....
Voting on a health care bill that is either "prolife or prochoice" yields either "Yes/No" votes but doesn't solve or prevent the issue of abortion that would protect BOTH sides beliefs from violation.
If an issue like abortion is on the table, but not spelled out in the Constitution, then there is a process already. It's called an amendment to the Constitution...
If we separate funding by group beliefs similar to religions, then we don't have one belief trying to outnumber the other to get voted into policy. All groups could manage their own terms for paying and providing for medical service.
So, you seem to be arguing against division in one moment, then turn to embrace the divisions, by lending credence to individual groups. American's would like to know that we are a united nation, NOT a conglomerate of separate groups all vying for their own agendas...That I think would be a mess.....
The reps in Congress (and state legislatures) would still function as govt to take the policies of the people and implement them through the official public process
Direct Democracy never works...
"Why is direct democracy not possible in modern societies? There are several reasons. Direct democracy comes with high costs and high risks, it may lead to conflicts and be emotional.
As direct democracy often requires nationwide votes and assemblies, its economic, social and political costs will be considerable. It may particularly give rise to an over-politicisation of society, resulting in the dominance of politics over everything else.
Direct democracy is indeed a zero-sum game, an instrument that aggravates social conflicts, it splits a society between majorities and minorities, and the minorities will find their positions, interests and rights suppressed.
Therefore, direct democracy tends to bring about unrest, intolerance and injustice."
As we all know, today even Greece has given up the direct democracy its ancestors invented. In fact the ancient Athens’ Ecclesia-style democracy can’t be found anywhere in the world. Switzerland, despite being applauded as a role model of direct democracy in a modern society, actually applies an...
www.swissinfo.ch
But before govt can "represent" the people, the people need to agree what plans reforms or policies for govt to implement and enforce
This is why we have primaries, and general elections...The people hear the candidates pitch, choose which one they want to run in the general, then vote for the person that represents their values...
If we don't agree in advance, that's like expecting contractors to build the house you want without giving them the plans.
They can vote among themselves and you'd be lucky to get something that serves you not them. That's the problem with govt representation. There's no check on it because parties, media and corporate interests have their own agenda that competes with the people and Taxpayers. There's no direct accountability because the bureaucracy is too big, there's no transparency, and the minute taxpayer money is already in the hands of govt there is no way to control if that represents the taxpayers anymore.
The "check" or "accountability" of politician's is the responsibility of the voter...If an elected official is violating his/her trust with the electorate, then the electorate needs to vote them out...Otherwise, through their failure to do so, is implicit agreement with their actions in office...
Like I said, Direct Democracy will not work in America...