Direct Democracy

The legislative being only a fiduciary power to act for certain ends, there remains still in the people a supreme power to remove or alter the legislative, when they find the legislative act contrary to the trust reposed in them. For all power given with trust for the...

Executive recall is a remedy whereby the electorate, upon realizing they have elected the wrong person, can remove the incumbent part way through his term. Experience shows this remedy is used sparingly; in the eighteen U.S. states whose constitutions provide for the...

I am for responsibilities at short periods, seeing neither reason nor safety in making public functionaries independent of the nation for life, or even for long terms of years. —Thomas Jefferson. Letter to James Martin, Monticello, September 20, 1813. A proven method...

There is an obvious failure in representative democracy in relation to the punishment of heinous crimes. A small but vocal group believes that rapists and murderers deserve a second chance. Politicians wish to appear moderate, so they pick a middle position between...

There are three main reasons why immigration levels should be taken away from the legislature and determined directly by the people: It is generally accepted that immigration must be restricted to a certain level (otherwise there would be open borders). Accordingly,...

The whole practice of public finance has been developed in an endeavor to outwit the taxpayer and to induce him to pay more than he is aware of, and to make him agree to expenditure in the belief that somebody else will be made to pay for it. —Friedrich Hayek. Law,...

The ability to ballot people electronically from the comfort of their home, business, or bathtub opens up the possibility of seeking the electorate’s instructions on more than simple ‘‘Yes’’ or ‘‘No’’ propositions. It introduces the possibility of letting the...

Legislative representatives are the agents of their electorate. Yet far too often they willfully vote against the known wishes of their constituents in deference to the special interest lobbyists who control their re-election hopes. A classic example is corporate...

It is likewise a fundamental law in democracies that the people should have the sole power to enact laws. And yet there are a thousand occasions on which it is necessary for the senate to enact laws; moreover it is frequently proper to make some trial of a law before...

From the nature of things, every society must at all times possess within itself the sovereign powers of legislation. —Thomas Jefferson. Rights of British America, 1774. It is the people alone who have the right to decide their own affairs. The right to pass...

In medieval times, the illiterate, uneducated peasantry were incapable of taking part in government. Today, with near universal education and literacy, the common man is not so common. He typically earns his living with his mind, not his body, and he can access news...

No government can continue good, but under the control of the people. —Thomas Jefferson. Letter to John Adams, Monticello, December 10, 1819. The nature of representative democracy Representative democracy has always been an imperfect expedient. The ideal would be to...