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Though US is a democracy, I'm hesitant to call it completely democratic. No nation is. At this stage of capitalism, lobbying groups and establishment regularly forces the congress to pass bills that are against the interests and opinions of majority of the people.

What are some theoretical solutions to make nations more democratic?

One possible solution is using technology. Now that must people in US and other western nations have access to internet and mobile phones, maybe one (crazy?) solution is conducting referendums online for some bills.

Some examples

  1. There is a online website where the majority party and largest minority party (or each senator) can propose 1 bill per year (per term) that people vote online on. If >66% people vote on it, the bill goes to next stage.

Either passed immediately or goes to a president who can veto it. There will be pressure on the president to not veto it but president can veto some dangerous minority oppressing bills.

Another option is to have two referendums on the same bill seperated in time (say 18 months) so that situations like Brexit doesn't occur.

  1. Public can propose "bills" themselves (either at local community level or nation level) and it goes to some kind of voting and top voted "bill" should be be made into a proper bill by a committee/congress and referendum should be held on it.

Currently due to some conmen, people believe that even mail in ballot is rigged, so it's difficult to obtain a good enough reputation for this system. Also, I'm not advocating for a completely direct democracy or majoritarianism. No one's got the time and knowledge to vote on everything. I'm only suggesting using referendums so that some power is transferred away from lobbying groups to the people.

Of course, prima facie, there are number of problems but i hope to convey the essential idea rather than all the details.

My question is whether such an idea would make a nation more democratic?

P.S. Also anyone know papers or books written on this idea?

Rick Smith
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Razor
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    Hello Razor, this seems to be a proposal, not a question. Note that "Here is my idea, what problems are there" is not normally a good question. There are other questions here about the problems with direct democracy. The specific problem is obvious: lots of people don't use the internet. – James K Feb 28 '24 at 21:17
  • Does this answer your question? Direct voting on every issue (referendum) - new political system – James K Feb 28 '24 at 21:18
  • https://politics.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask As you must know from your other SE sites, each site has certain guidelines on using it and what if/hypothetical questions would be unwieldy and debate-prone on this one. Looking forward to your next post though, welcome aboard. – Italian Philosophers 4 Monica Feb 28 '24 at 21:30
  • Some pointers: US states that use referenda for ballot initiatives, and Switzerland etc. Also, for the more consultative (and electronic) form: EU's consultations initiatives. The latter have some downsides though, as people from more tech countries like Germany answer them disproportionately. – the gods from engineering Feb 28 '24 at 21:53

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