MPs should be doing more to defend their Constituents' liberties

Says a newspaper headline. But how realistic is this? In most countries the link between an MP and his constituents is tenous - if it exists at all. Most owe their allegiance to a party machine and toe the line most of the time. Direct Democracy would allow for much closer alignment of politics with the interests and preferences of the citizens.

Who needs this Parliament?

Six weeks holidays for UK Parliament, at a moment when the Wuhan crisis does not give any indication of subsiding and many businesses are at the limit of their endurance. To make matters worse we have not heard of ONE MP or Minister who has offered to reduce his compensation as a sign of solidarity. Online meetings make an expensive building with numerous support staff an anachronism in any case.
Reckless MP's abandon the sinking ship Great Britain

With parliament in the bag, France's Macron faces union test

The absurdity of electoral rules is demonstrated again - most of them are discriminatory, favor Establisment parties. So keep them by all means but add Direct Democracy as an additional layer of policy finding.
With parliament in the bag, France's Macron faces union test

Parliament - a waste of time?

Today's Parliaments churn out so many laws that hardly any representative has time to study the proposals properly - if he cares to do this at all. Requiring to subject all legislation to obligatory or optional referendums would mean that the citizens have a safety valve against this defect of 'representative Democracy'. A lenghty and public debate before a referendum date would also allow for a higher quality scrutiny of new laws.
A bunch of House Republicans admitted that they didn't read the GOP healthcare bill

European Parliament Censors Its Own Free Speech

European Parliament Censors Its Own Free Speech | Zero Hedge
It has come to a sad state when our 'representatives' (who in reality are just party hacks that are surplus to requirements in their home countries) try to stiffle Free Speech.

10 outrageously pricey tax breaks 'gifted' by Congress (The Fiscal Times)
 Dysfunctional Parliaments in grip of Lobbies, Special Interests

Parties own seats in Parliament

A particularly nasty and unpleasant aspect of party rule in several European 'democracies' is the fact that the party establishment can replace any MP that resigns (or dies) with another party member of its choice. The citizens of the constituency the previous MP represented have no say in this. This is in addition to the problem caused by the fact that any prospective candidate for election to the parliament has to be approved by the party bureaucracy as no country holds mandatory primaries and very few parties give the ultimate say on candidate selections to their rank-and-file members.

Parliament reclaims Power?

Just because the UK Parliament has decided not to agree to the proposed action against Syria that was advocated by the Prime Minister one should not rejoice and think that 'Presidential' government has been rejected. This was more a one-off and other countries such as France - where President Hollande has resorted to sabre-rattling to divert from a desastrous economy - show that the power of parliaments is limited to say the least. No wonder as most countries have no proper separation of powers, and even where this separation is more pronounced - such as in the United States - not much good comes of it and the citizens - who should really have the final say in all decisions - are helpless bystanders.

Voters may get the right to sack their MP

Liberal-Democrat leader Nick Clegg says that 'voters will be given the right to sack errant MPs if they are found guilty of serious wrongdoing.' (Daily Mail). We would go a step further and insist that voters should have the right to recall their representatives at any time. Of course, this should be subject to strict restraints and a sufficiently large quorum would have to back any more to instigate a recall procedure. Also keep in mind that in a system of Direct Democracy the Parliament and Government will be anticipating any such moves and avoid pushing for measures that could be expected to face opposition from the majority of citizens.

British MPs defend their perks

It is absurd that Members of Parliament in most countries are able to set the rules that guide their conduct and expenses. Just now the British MPs threaten to rewrite Commons rules on expenses unless their demands for changes to the regulations are met.

Britain's MEPs cost £26 million a year

This means that each one of the 72 British MEPs costs approximately £330,000 a year. While this is by no means a negligible figure it raises a more important question: does it really matter that their activities are 'woefully under-scrutinised'? In a system of Direct Democracy any Parliament or Legislative Body in general is more like a consultative body. It is a forum where those citizens most interested in helping to formulate laws can congregate and exchange their views. But it is only a preparatory stage in the legislative process as the citizens themselves have the ultimate say on any decision. It does not really matter if Parliamentarians are lazy (how often does one see near-empty chambers on photos in the media!) or not paid enough or how they are elected in the first place (first-past-the-post or on proportional basis). They could even be elected by drawing lots among those interested in the position of a member of parliament.

UK: Is power slipping away from Parliament?

Wrong question Mr. Johnston! The question should be: why has power 'slipped away' from the citizens and how will we be able to wrest it back from political parties and their frontmen?