Citizens in Charge

Do you think it’s possible, in an age where so many of us get our information online, to harness the internet’s powers of communication as a tool for state-level direct democracy?

Brian Ashmankas, who writes for the Worcester County Non-Partisan Examiner, seems to agree with the folks at MajorityVoice that there is a great deal of potential in this idea - especially for Massachusetts, where an infamously unresponsive state legislature repeatedly ignores the will of the people.

The basis for MajorityVoice’s democratic system is an on-line forum.  All members of the website (this would be expanded to all voters if such a system were implemented) have the option of both creating forums regarding a problem facing the state, country, world, etc. and posting possible solutions to a problem on an existing forum.  Voters can also indicate agreement or disagreement with certain suggested statements.  This can also be done to indicate whether one agrees with the basic intent of the forum.  Statements and forums that reach a certain threshold of disagreement are removed while those reaching a certain threshold of agreement are submitted to government and/or businesses as a mandate for policy change backed up by the will of the people.  I would suggest that if officially implemented into our democracy, reaching the threshold of agreement on the forum would result in the proposed solution being placed on the ballot as a referendum for all voters to decide.  If it is agreed to by a majority of voters, it would become law.

Mr. Ashmankas also goes on to say that he “believe(s) this system would improve our democracy exponentially by allowing the will of the people instead of the will of an unaccountable legislature to become law”.

Interesting, right? Do you think this is a good way for the citizenry to engage, balancing out the unresponsive nature of our state legislature? Maybe it wouldn’t be perfect for every state in the union. It’s truly hard to say. But getting Massachusetts specific here, what are your thoughts? Is this a valid way to force our representatives into listening to us, or would it be too chaotic a system?

We’re interested to hear everyone’s thoughts on the matter! Even if you’re not from Massachusetts, what do you think about a system like this in general? Would it help to engage the citizens in the legislative process in an effective way in your state? Leave your comments below!

Corie Whalen is the Citizens in Charge Foundation Massachusetts Citizen State Coordinator. Find out more information at http://www.citizensincharge.org/states/massachusetts