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.

Party Cronies rule our Lives

In Austria the Chancellor is replaced at the drop of a hat. Party hacks decide he is no longer useful to keep them in power and he must go. In comes a political novice, never stood in an election, has zero mandate to rule as helpless citizens watch in disbelief.
In Italy a young politician close to the Prime Minister is allowed to manipulate the decades-old constitution. Main purpose to provide a safe and comfortable life for the ruling parties. At least there will have to be a referendum on the changes - but is it not all-too-easy to get the desired result? Is the required Quorum demanding enough (two thirds in favour, with at least 50 percent of those eligible to vote turning up? regional preferences catered for?)

Two-Party System on the Way out?

The Slow, Inevitable, Collapse of the Two-Party System (OrientalReview)

More important - it does not really matter how many parties compete for your vote, and under what electoral system.The most important change to align politics with the wishes of the Citizens is the introduction of Direct Democracy on all levels of Government.

Just these days the Burghers of Zurich, Switzerland, will launch a referendum against the imposition of higher parking charges in their town. One may agree or not, but they do not have to helplessly accept the diktat from above.

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.

Unholy Alliance against Electoral Change

When the leader of the Taxpayer's alliance takes the lead role in the campaign against the introduction of the alternative vote in England one has to wonder when the public discourse in the country will ever be free from short-sighted considerations. The referendum may well cost money - but to object against this (tiny and insufficient) reform of a dysfunctional electoral and democratic system on the basis of what it would cost completely neglects to consider the negative fallout from a continuation of the present arrangements. At a time when the present government tries to win approval for the hollow slogan of a 'Big Society' it would certainly be the best to start giving the citizens a proper say in the running of the government at national, regional and local level. Only the introduction of a comprehensive form of Direct Democracy will move the county in the right direction. One also has to wonder why the No Campaign would not want to disclose the names of their donors? Maybe one would find the names of the same hedge fund oligarchs that pull the strings behind the Conservative Party?

UK: Conservatives and Lib-Dems may enter into election pacts

Like coalitions in general an election pact between different parties is making it near-impossible for the citizens of a 'representative' democracy to know what he is voting for when asked to cast his ballot every few years. Direct Democracy prevents backroom deals that exclude the electorate as all political decisions have to be submitted to a referendum.

USA: Political System protects existing parties

We do not always agree with Jeffrey Sachs but when he argues that the political system of the USA is corrupted by the influence of party donors and that only a new political force in the form of a third party offers any chance to improve the situation we can offer him a clear alternative: a political system of comprehensive Direct Democracy as advocated by DIRDEM will not completely eliminate the problem posed by the influence of political donors but it will reduce it to a large extent. No final decisions will be made by corrupted parliamentarians and government ministers that are beholden to special interests as they will have to consider the potential outcome of any referendum. Thus the influence of special influence groups will be diluted and a more rational debate on an issue-by-issue basis will become the norm.