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WDD Newsletter Vol. 5 (No. 3) September 2003
I&R plus Deliberation - the
Second Step of the Staircase Representative bodies (parliaments and others) fill two
functions: Some prominent members of our movement are aware of this weakness. On the 22 June, Mr.Bernard Clayson and Mr.Franz Isemann (see below), commenting on the ERC, without using the word deliberation, nevertheless broached the problem. Mr.Isemann wrote, "First things first, which means: 1) fight for being asked about those findings! First step of peoples participation…" As I see it, the word step is the key concept. The process leading to the establishment of genuine democracy can be compared to a staircase. A legislation giving us the right to I&R is only the first step, undoubtedly a necessary and crucial step, but in itself not sufficient to transform party-dominated systems into true democracies. Without giving the citizens, on demand, opportunities of making regular use of well informed and structured deliberation, the representation establishment will keep the upper hand, relegating DD to a marginal position of occasional and unsystematic incursions upon the bastions of the elitist, representation-based power structures. There have been many conferences, both international and national, focusing on I&R. Naturally, we will go on supporting and attending these events. However, hopefully, the time has come to organize a conference highlighting deliberative methods and their potential importance for the I&R process. So far, only the two CICDD conferences (Pribram 1998 and Athens/Delphi 2000) have dealt with this extremely important component of DD. Basically, to my knowledge, there are three widely used deliberative methods: Planning Cells (Bürgergutachten), developed with great success in Germany by Prof.Peter C.Dienel; Electronic Town Meetings/Scientific Deliberative Polling (USA; see T.L.Becker - Ch.D. Slaton: The Future of Teledemocracy); Citizen Juries, USA, developed by the Jefferson Center in cooperation with Prof.Dienel. In June 2001, during his visit to Sweden, I had the privilege of a long discussion about citizen deliberation with Senator Mike Gravel, the founder and chairman of the National Initiative for Democracy, perhaps the brightest light in the present U.S. political darkness. When I explained to him my above mentioned ideas on the highly desirable amalgamation of the two chief DD methods, his answer was, "I couldn´t agree more!" BÜRGERGUTACHTEN - A Deliberation Model par excellence (pravý sloupec) Prof.Ph.D. Peter C. Dienel, initiator of the Planning Cells model (Bürgergutachten), an epoch-making innovation in democracy. This model has been noticed and (fotografie profesora Dienela) recommended by some top-level progressive politicians such as Prime Minister Tony Blair and the President of Germany Johannes Rau, who recently decorated Prof. Dienel by a high German Order of Merit. The work of Prof.Dienel has been presented and analysed in innume-rable books and articles. Bürgergutachten (BG) so far (organized by)- a Survey Energy Climate-friendly energy (Akademie für
Technikfolgenabschätzg. in Baden-Würtem- Berg) Traffic - Rail- and Motorways (Stadt Graz/Austria, Stadt Remscheid, ÜSTRA Hannover- sche Verkehrsbetriebe AG, Consejeria de Obras Públicas y Transportes de la Communidad Autonoma Vasca, Spain) City Planning (Gemeinde Engelskirchen, Stadt Regensburg, Alcalde de Calafell, Spain, Stadt Meckenheim, Stadt Meerbusch, Senatsverwaltung Stadtentwicklung-Berlin, Stadt Lengerich (twice), Stadt Neuss, Stadt Osnabrück, Stadt Apolda/Thür., Stadt Nordhausen, Alcalde de St. Quirze/Prov., Barcelona, Spain, Stadt Meinigen, Stadt Gevelsberg, Stadt Köln, Spar- und Bauverein Solingen eG Gemeinnützige Wohn -gemeinschaftsgenossenschaft (twice), Stadt Solingen, Alcalde de Astigarraga, Spain, Stadt Hagen Environment (Akademie für Technikfolgenabschätzung. In Baden-Württbg, Stiftung Warentest, Berlin, Stadt Schwelm) Leisure Time/Drugs/Integration (Kanton "Basel-Stadt", Switzerland, Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung, Umweltschutz und Technologie/Bezirksamt Kreuzberg von Berlin, ditto Bezirksamt Tiergarten, Stadt Buxtehede, Alcalde de Idiazabal, Spain, Stadt Solingen, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung,Bonn/Stadt Lever-kusen) Work (Stadt Frankfurt/Oder) Organization of the Administrative System (Landesregierung Baden-Württemberg, für "Zukunftskommission Gesellschaft 2000", Stadt Hannover, Akademie für Tech-nikabschätzung in Baden-Württemberg) Consumer protection/Health: (Bayerische Staatsministerium für Gesundheit, Ernährung und Verbraucherschutz, Akademie für Technikfolgenabschätzund in Baden- Württemberg) Economic Planning (not yet used) European Level (not yet used) Information and Media Policy (Volkshochschule Hietzing, Wien, Austria, Bundesminister für das Post- und Fernmeldewesen, Bonn, Bundesminister für Forschung und Technologie, Bonn, Kabelpilotprojekt/Dortmund - Ministerium für AGS Nordrh.-Westf. Assessment of the Impact of Technology (Akademie für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Ba-Den-Württemberg - on two separate occasions) Planning Cells in the World - Projet descriptions in
sociological litterature (a selection) Source: Kostensparen durch Bürgergutachten - Die
revitalisierte Demokratie Excerpts from the above publication (translated) p.4 - 6: Causes of the Impotence of the Steering Apparatus. …. The Apparatus is not Legitimate: …. Distrust among the public is increasing… (a quotation from H.H. Von Arnim: Das System. Die Machenschaften der Macht): "Every German is free to obey laws that he had never authorized; he is allowed to admire the loftiness of the Constitution the validity of which he had never legitimized; he is free to render homage to politicians not elected by any citizen and to abundantly pay for their apanage - with his tax money, without ever being asked how that money should be spent. In general, the condition of the State and politics is such that only a professional optimist or a hypocrite can pretend that it has resulted from the will of the citizens." The Apparatus acts in a short-sighted way. …. Many decisions important for long-term survival of a peaceful and decent society are not made in time, or not made at all. … The Apparatus is self-centred. (i.e. mostly interested in self-preservation). …. The Decision-makers cling to Dysfunctional Elements - they are reluctant to admit the necessity of any radical change. ….. "… at present, to a foresighted person, the future of our society appears increasingly gloomy. And it becomes more and more costly. How can we straighten up the wrong direction? That´s the question asked by the citizen." Czech Republic: The Czech DD organization HzPD (MDD) prepares the wording of a Citizens´ Constitution which will be printed and presented for the public, probably in 2004. Planning Cells (called there Citizen Commissions) will constitute a permanent, and for some issues obligatory, deliberation and assessment fora, on the same footing as Parliament. Examples: The salaries of politicians on all levels are to be assigned by citizens in Commissions, not by the politicians themselves. Each case of the use of military power will have to be assessed by Citizen Commissions prior to implementation. In a true democracy, it is inadmissible that, from their cosy offices, politicians send people to war without nation-wide consent, citizen deliberation and referendum. Etc. etc. We hope other countries will follow suit. INTERNATIONAL 5 June, a letter from Triaka: "Most American states, Switzerland, Australia and many other government entities have been practicing Initiative, Referendum, Recall or Direct Democracy in one form or another for up to a century. There´s been no tyrany by the majority. Lagging behind, the U.S. federal government is extremely top-heavy with an abusive oligarchy of money interests holding power regardless of political party, and in need of urgent attention with well-written amendments to balance the power. Besides Initiative, Referenda and Recall needed at the U.S. federal level, I propose a Direct Democracy constitutional amendment to allow voters to participate electronically in deciding government PRINCIPLES & POLICIES - for example the Iraq War Resolution or Patriot Act would be automatically activated for DD on legislation that falls short of consensus, or 90%, of all sitting members of Congress. Setting off the DD majority vote requirement would be constitutionally predetermined by DD. In the real world of federal-state relations today, the federal government is an overwhelming force with no chance of counter-balance by the state political machines, leaving only the people at-large to bring about a system that is better balanced for the highest good of All. People desiring fair, just and balanced government need to WORK at it constitutionally because it aint happening as it stands." 1 May: Mr.Wayne Hall sent us an article written by Catherine Austin Fitts: Mapping the Real Deal: The American Tapeworm; C.A.Fitts is the President of Solari, inc. (http://www.solari.com), a founding member of UnAnsweredQuestions.org (http://www.unansweredquestions.org) and member of the Advisory Board of Sanders Research Associates. Ms.Fitts is a former member of the Bush I Administration. "The tapeworm - a parasite that over time eats its host - can more accurately describe the demonic patterns of stripping places of intellectual capital that come with American imperial conquest. The dumbing down so often complained about within American borders is a phenomenon that our military appears to be implementing globally. We seem intent on removing spiritual power and intellectual IQ as we depopulate globally, moving out the honest and competent and putting the corrupt and bureaucratic in charge. One of the things that is most disturbing about the American tapeworm is that it has organized its leadership around private banks and defense contractors and its governance and intellectual air cover around think tanks and private universities and their tax-exempt endowments. ….." "The Break It-Fix It Subsidy of a Negative Return on Investment Economy For several years, I have been studying and writing on the corporate and banking economic warfare model of globalization. Just from a case study of one private investor, Pug Winokur, and his investments in and with DynCorp, Enron and Harvard, examples abound. ……" "The Giant Sucking Sound as the Tapeworm Consumes Global Capital "Banks and corporations are entirely dependent on rigged government budgets, government contracts, federal credit arbitrage and corrupt regulation in way that generates a negative return on investment for taxpayers. …….." "The Tapeworm Ransacking of Iraq The economic desperation that lead up to the invasion of Iraq has been eloquently described by Chris Sanders of Sanders Research Associates….. The first meal to be harvested on Iraq is the profits of invasion - from government contracts and arms trafficking to media coverage. - The second meal to be harvested on Iraq is the resulting control of assets, including gold, oil, bank accounts and antiquities. Iraq will be stripped, shipped, or otherwise switched to new ownership. ….. The third meal on Iraq to be harvested will be occupation management. If Eastern Europe is representative, America will partner with local and global organized crime and other intelligence agencies to significantly increase organized crime profits from the place. …… The fourth meal to be harvested on Iraq will be fixing it and declaring victory. This will involve significant government contracts to bring Western Civilization as defined by building those things that ensure the assets that the private corporations and investors have now acquired have the largest increase in value at no expense to themselves. …. As the corporations and banks are digesting Iraq, the American tapeworm will be setting its sights for the next meal. ….. Where is the Tapeworm´s Brain? The great mystery in all of this is who is really in charge. On one hand, we are watching an official action of the American governmental apparatus. On the other hand, that governmental apparatus is now run by the private companies and banks that operate the apparatus accounts and systems and finance its ever-growing debts. …. The tapeworm is in control and eating into the people of America as it is eating into the people of Iraq. ….. The American tapeworm is a symptom that the central banking-warfare model that has created the supremacy of the English-speaking people since the time of Queen Elizabeth I is dying. It is dying not because it is wrong but because it is weak …. Hence it is incumbent upon the English-speaking people to reinvent themselves by engaging globally to invent a new model …. All solutions are found when we realize that this is something you and I can correct without wasting more time trying to find someone in charge of the tapeworm to persuade them to change its ways. It can´t change - it´s too busy finding food to feed all of us." Related links: CSC DynCorp & the Economics of Lawlessness (including
links to Sanders Research on the economics of the American occupation of Iraq) 29 April: Quotations from a letter sent by Mr.Mark Davey to the CICDD discussion channel: "Original message from Rory Winter (to several channels): "Subject: HELP THE WORLD KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT 911 AND THE BUSH CRIME SYNDICATE! "9/11 WAS A HOAX. This is no longer a wild conspiracy assertion; it is a fact, supported by thousands of other verifiable facts…" (On the web, there are dozens of sites bringing incriminating details and stories. How much truth there is in them, that remains to be found out. JP) 20 June: A letter sent to the CICDD channel by Mr.Evan D. Ravitz: (excerpt): "the most important investigation ever done in American
history" Bush's 9/11 cover-up? 18 May: New submission to http://democracy.mkolar.org/MessBoard.html Announcement: New files - three new articles have been added to http://citizenrightsleague.com.freeservers.com (Mr.Steve Mathe, Germany) 2 July: New submission to http://democracy.mkolar.org/newURL.html Link: http://MajorityVoice.com A report by Miss Veronica Valach (member of the MDD): The Experience of the First Plebiscite in the History of Czech Republic (abbreviated) "On the 13-14 June 2003, for the first time in their history, the citizens of Czech Republic had the opportunity of participating in a plebiscite (decreed by Parliament) to directly decide whether or not their country should join thee EU. This opportunity was utilized by more than 55%. 77,3% of the plebiscite participants approved the accession of Czech Republic to the European Union. The plebiscite can be considered as the first successful step towards a more democratic society in a country whose citizens have virtually no experience of direct participation in the management of public affairs, still not being convinced that the man in the street could change anything in the political sphere. At the same time, the event also confirmed the insight that the adherents of direct democracy will have to overcome many obstacles, especially a strong resistance on the part of politicians belonging to parliamentary parties and, in general, on the part of all members of the so called power elites." Recently published: Jiri Polak: ZÁVODY (The Races) A political thriller based on authentic materials. Plot: Late 1980s. In the White House, a confidential top level meeting is taking place. The USA is facing economic and other problems. What should be done? Among various proposals, an unconventional one is vaguely suggested. - Pursuing a personal vendetta, a high ranking State Department official obtains the cooperation of an honest CIA agent, Broderick Schwarz. Initially, his task is labelled as the disclosure of a Soviet spy inside the Pentagon. As the investigation progresses, Broderick begins to suspect something else. He keeps his suspicion for himself until, to his horror, it is confirmed. On the last page only, the shocking truth is revealed. The Lubos Marek Publishing House, Brno, Czech Republic 10 May: A letter sent by Mr.Paul Dennett to the CICDD channel: "You may be interested to know that a new political party, the People´s Alliance, was launched in March 2003 in the United Kingdom. The People´s Alliance has adopted a radical program of constitutional reform in which Direct Democracy plays a key part. A system of Initiative and Decisive Referenda is proposed, with *all* laws to be ratified by public referendum. The Scottish People´s Alliance participated in the recent elections to the Scottish Parliament on 1 May 2003. Sixteen candidates were put forward and thanks to the Additional Member System of proportional representation used in these elections voters across the whole Scotland were able to vote for the People´s Alliance program. The party was also entitled to a five minute national television and radio broadcast, which it used to good effect. The election results were very encouraging for a party which had only been in existence for about six weeks at the time of its first national election. In the regional list section 0.4% of the voters supported the People´s Alliance lists. In the local constituencies some candidates fared considerably better with the best result being 3.5% of the vote in Banff. For further information about the People's Alliance and its
program, please follow this link: 31 May: A letter from Dr.Michael Macpherson: "If the people of Britain and N.Ireland want to hold a referendum on any topic, then they should be able to do that. A problem is that until now we have apparently failed to install a procedure which would allow us to do this. Except by starting a campaign to persuade the government to give us a referendum. Latter method may be unsatisfactory because the gov. may ignore our demand or will determine the referendum question, timing, and aspects of information. How to proceed? A suggestion: Start a citizens´ initiative which both demands a referendum and sets the question. The initiative statement could be as follows: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and a constitution for the European Union. (Short preamble, to identify the entity upon which we want to decide but avoiding bias for or against.) A legally binding referendum shall be held to decide upon the following question: Should Great Britain and Northern Ireland ratify this european constitutional treaty? 1 June: A letter sent to the CICDD channel by Mr.Bernard Clayson: "When looking at the world situation from any angle one can see nothing but problems. The political scene is currently in oligarchy and heading rapidly towards dictatorship. Environmentally we are contaminating the world like no tomorrow, and at the current rate there will not be. We are using up the world´s resources at an exponential rate with escalating technical development that leaves us picking up the penalty of pollution years later. The human population took about 250,000 years to reach 1 million, 2000 years to reach 1 billion, and 100 years to reach 6 billion. The answer? I do not know, but……… Why? Anything that needs to be done, needs to be acceptable to everyone, not just the few like-minded people in the group. Contrary to popular belief, politicians are human, they have the same instincts of meeting with like-minded people just like everyone else. They can't sell their ideas to the public any better than the groups, and for the same reason i.e. they throw, or drive, the critics out. Those critics may just have the perception that will prevent your hypothesis going wrong if it ever got accepted, and it may increase the chances of it being accepted. The Solution? I developed Phoenix as a company, Board, Production, Admin and Sales; in the course of that development several things became apparent, a few are listed below:
So…. Group members, can you give a constructive criticism of a hypothesis/idea, and accept the same in return? Rhetorical, not rhetoric, listen and learn not defend or attack. If so, have a look at http://www.planet-thanet.fsnet.co.uk/phoenix/index.htm If you can present all sides of the issue rather than a polarised view, you may just get the support you are looking for by including the critics in the discussion. We may all gain from the experience. If you publish the Phoenix concept to other groups you increase the number of potential sympathisers to your cause, you feed the group, the group feeds you. It will increase the individual awareness of what is happening in a wide sphere of the internet and at the same time both increase your involvement in areas of your interest and reduce the ´traffic´ in your mailbox. Interested? Sign up for the three groups on the web and send comments direct to me at bernard-clayson@shuartfarm.fsnet.co.uk The lists are open for membership now, project submissions and moderator volunteers again direct to me identifying which group. Note, the email groups are for distributing weekly ´project´ reports, not for posting to. Regards Bernard" Comment: In our network, several global projects have been discussed (WDDM, GDDM, Dr.Nordfors Global Citizen, Mr.Lee Gottlieb´s Metamorphose …) Mr.Clayson´s Phoenix is certainly worth trying. I would just recommend maximum simplicity concerning registration, identification and other routines. Complexity can dissuade people who, like myself, are no experts on electronics. We must realize that the problems we address are enormously complicated. We have no resources except our ideas and integrity, while our adversaries have billions of $ for brainwashing passive and mostly indifferent citizenry and corrupt opinion-builders. Still, we must go on. Time is our best ally. (JP) 20 June: A letter sent by Mr.Arjen Nijeboer to several channels (abbreviated): "Thursday evening, June 19, during a very intense and emotional debate in the Amsterdam City Council, the popular initiative was definitely adopted by 26 to 19 votes. The proposal was drafted by me as founder of the Amsterdam DD group Amsterdam Initiatief. Interestingly, the rightist populists (Pim Fortuyns´ party) and another pro-automobile local party withdrew their support at the last moment. So only progressive parties voted in favour. The social Democrats (who rule Amsterdam) had a fierce internal debate but remained divided; finally an unexpected high number of 12 of 15 SD council members voted in favour." At present, the political scene is dominated by discussions preceding the September plebiscite concerning the prospective accession to the EMU. The situation is very interesting. There are two sides - pro-EMU and anti-EMU. Both are higly organized and sponsored by millions of crowns, including tax-payers´ money. The government, especially the Prime minister, is pro, but five members of his (Soc.Dem.) government are overtly anti. There is a similar rift in all other parties. This is one of the symptoms of the successive disintegration of the traditional right-left party-political spectrum. As the case is in all western countries, the Swedish political landscape has become so complex that the old stereotypes do not fit any more. The campaign, well, it is simply a mockery of democracy. On both sides professional opinion-builders try to brainwash the public by any means, including personal assaults upon their opponents, and using various other tricks. In the media debates, so far, I have not heard anyone saying, "This is not democracy, it´s brainwashing!" In a true democracy, the issue would first be presented to a series of planning cells or to a nation-wide scientific deliberative polling. Only after such impartial and unbiased democratic assessment, the plebiscite would take place. But the very mention of these democratic instruments is banned. Despite the geographic and cultural proximity, what a difference (obviously due to very different historical experience) between the Swedish political backwater and the effervescence of ideas and democratic creativity we witness in modern Germany! Information from Mr.George Kokkas: On 19 - 20 June, a social forum took place in Thessaloniki - a parallel event to the European Summit in Thessaloniki and Chalkidike focused on the Convention for the Future of Europe. Mr Kokkas wrote, "Participants of the Thessaloniki Social Forum (including our ´Forum for Citizens´ Democracy´) and the Helsinki Citizens´ Assembly Meeting ´Citizens´ Europe´ sent a message to the President of the Council of Foreign Ministers, Mr.G.Papandreou, (Friday, June 20, 2003 in Sithonia/Thessaloniki). Our conferences had really great success, considered as historic, because the leaders of the Summit officially accepted a document presented by the citizens´ Summit." "The Foreign Minister, Mr. Papandreou, responded that he supported the idea of Electronic Democracy and the project of organizing a worldwide Agora (maybe next October) in favor of authentic democracy." In the Zeitschrift für direkte Demokratie 2/03, Ms Claudine Nierth wrote, "Endlich! Mehr Demokratie hat europäische Geschichte mitgeschrieben. Noch in den letzten Konventsverhandlungen in Brüssel is es gelungen, das Bürgerbegehren in die Europäische Verfassung aufzunehmen. Damit hat der Bürger immerhin den Fuss in der europäischen Tür." Ibidem, Mr.Thorsten Sterk: "Die direkte Demokratie greift innerhalb der Parteien immer mehr Raum. SPD-Aktive starteten erstmals ein Mitgliederbegehren, die Grünen-Mitglieder stimmten über die Trennung von Amt and Mandat ab und die ÖDP verankerte die Forderung nach bundesweiten Volksentscheiden per Urabstimmung in ihrem Grundsatzprogramm." The Zeitschrift abounds in encouraging news from Germany, Europe´s most important country, that plays more and more the role of a powerful locomotive drawing consistently other countries towards Direct Democracy. (JP) 22.June.: Mr.Bernard Clayson wrote,
"A Constitution should be a contract between the people and the
organization, i.e. in this case the EU.
Getting rid of the EU is not an option no matter how appealing the thought may be, and the constitution does have a country opt-out clause if we actually elect people to do it. Options. 1. We accept what we are given; Personally I am in no mood to accept 1 or 2, No 4 is open to other options, 3 presumes the people can do what the politicians have done, i.e. start with what has been presented and modify it, or start from square one. It also presumes the ´people´ can work together (there has to be a first for everything), and I will add to the confusion by asking why are some people so keen on referendums, they are illogical, expensive, without structure, dubious success rate, and the establishment knows it. In order to have any chance of success, any proposal will have to have the involvement of a lot of people, or be modified as it progresses, so what ´vehicle´ is capable of doing that? Would you leave it to the civil servants to do the counting? Is ´people power´ a figment of one's imagination like democracy?" Comment: I agree, Bernard! That is why our group in Czech Republic consider the existing Czech constitution as provisional only and prepare a comprehensive amendment (like the Ni4D in the USA). (JP) 22.June.: Mr.Franz Isemann wrote, "Dear Bernard, I share your realistic description of the situation. However, I shall vote, if in Germany I am given the chance. And I shall vote against the findings of the convent, since we have got only the right of petition, but not the right of law making. Your difficulty seems to me to lie in a tactical thinking: 1) fight for being asked about those findings! First step of peoples participation. 2) Vote NO, because we cannot acknowledge the findings. 3) Keep on fighting, because the referendum did not close the door, but it opened it - provided we are successful with ERC. I know, that is very disillusioning, but I do not see any other way. One consolation: If nothing else, the referenda make people aware, of something called the problem of Europe and the Globe, and also of the stony road towards Direct Democracy. Without peoples awareness there will be no progress at all." 26 July: Information from Mr.Heiko
Dittmer: Eurobarometer: Quotation: "Over 80% of citizens across the 25 European countries positively perceive the idea of a referendum on the draft Constitution." 22 July: Information from Mr.Ronald Pabst: A British campaign to hold a referendum on the constitution http://www.vote-2004.com 20 - 22.June: ERC Conference at St.Jura,
Slovakia. Organizers: Mr.Bruno Kaufmann & Mr.Thomas Rupp.
The conference was opened by representatives of the Czech and Slovak political establish-ments. Again, their appearance was marked by arrogance vis-a-vis the citizens. The Czech representative harshly criticized the very principle of referendum. In the evening of 20 June, there was a meeting with the Swiss ambassador in Slovakia. The participants had the opportunity of discussing with him in an informal and DD-friendly atmosphere. On 21 June, there were reports and meetings with observers and participants of plebiscites held in Malta, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia, Poland, and Czech Republic. Most participants belonged to the Euro-sceptic organization TEAM and other Euro-sceptic organizations. They criticized the fact that the adversaries of accession to the EU had obtained neither space in the media nor public means. In many countries, the respective regimes put pressure on the citizens to make them vote. Discussions took place on the elite level only, not on the grass-roots level. 17 June: Mr.Heiko Dittmer sent to the Democracy International discussion channel an article recently published in LE MONDE: Appel pour un référendum dans tous les pays en juin 2004 Extracts (translated): "Will 450 million Europeans
living in 25 countries be invited to ratify, on Sunday 13 June 2004, by
referenda the European Constitution? That´s the call launched by the European
MP Alain Lamassoure supported by 38 among the 105 Convention members plus 48
substitutes. "We guess that the ratification will be made in this way in all countries where referendum exists. You can´t say a Constitution is adopted while reserving that issue for national parliaments," Mr.Lamassoure explains. Spain, as well as Portugal, has declared it would hold a referendum on 13 June if the treaty is ready. Popular consultation will be obligatory in Denmark and Ireland. In France, this procedure seems plausible because all French MPs have signed Mr.Lamassoure´s appeal. A referendum held simultaneously in the whole of Europe should make it possible to solve the problem of ratification at one swoop, without waiting for ratification by the individual countries, as the case was with the Treaty of Maastricht. This initiative would facilitate the task of the candidate countries now ratifying by referenda the treaties of accession to the EU planned for 1 May 2004. If the referendum takes place on the same day as European elections, the principal issue for those countries would be to send representatives to Brussels for the first time, while the adoption of the Constitution would be presented as a sort of vote in favor of their accession to the Union. ……. Nevertheless, the influence of the Euro-sceptics makes some governments hostile to the idea of a referendum. In the early June, Tony Blair told the Parliament that there was no reason to organize a referendum on the Constitution, because the leader of the conservative opposition, Ian Duncan Smith, declared himself in favor of a referendum "so as to give the British people an opportunity to say ´No´". Mr.Lamassoure´s initiative creates a problem for Sweden which, to begin with, has to persuade its citizens to adopt the euro by referendum this autumn. The Belgians haven´t have any referendum without quarrels between the Dutch and the Wallons. However, the country whose discussions are the most reasonable is Germany. Representative democracy distrusts sudden changes of opinion and does not believe that referenda, that had existed during the Weimar Republic, guarantee democracy. Since 1949, on the federal level, referenda do not exist. Therefore, the Germans have never directly approved their Constitution, or the re-unification, or the euro. Since a few years, some timid voices inside the Social democratic Party, among the Greens and Bavarian conservatives have advocated the introduction of referendum. But German sources point out that the country should first engage in a thorough deliberation on this issue before trying a first experience of this kind. So far, it has been the Government´s line not to hold a referendum on this Constitution. "The Germans will be amused to watch all others make decisions by referenda", affirms Mr.Lamassoure who hopes that a European dynamic will emerge." Comment: The above lines support the contention worded in the editorial of this issue: Referenda alone are not a panacea. In many cases (though not always and not where the ERC is concerned), they are a questionable procedure. To be really credible and unassailable, they must be combined with well informed and structured deliberation. (JP) 5 June: Information from Mr.Vladimir Rott: Link to article: http://euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=11588 20 May: A letter sent by Mr.Syd Baumel to the Simpol discussion channel: "In "World Democracy", e-mailable (20 pages), delivered at the 2002 conference of the International Institute for Public Ethics, I´ve discussed REMEDIES for the loss of transparency, accountability and feedback between voters and their reps in ever LARGER legislative constituencies - perhaps the major cause of wide DISTRUST of international federation ideas. I think we have a very ripe, yet untapped antidote for the politically numbing distance between citizens and their elected reps - at all levels, from municipal to global: the Internet. And I don't mean privately emailing your MP or congressman. I mean creating permanent, 24/7, online citizen assemblies for all constituency levels where participatory democracy can thrive - with the participation of elected reps (as long as we continue to need them), bureaucrats, and any other officials and stakeholders. (I hope to elaborate on this in an essay I'm working on "Empowering the Superpower of Global Justice.")" 9 June: A letter sent by Dr.Doug Everinham to the Simpol discussion channel (answering Mr.Syd Baumel): "I agree that the technology is developing for direct
democracy. Among the groups to which I've relayed your call for globally
coordinating groups is GPAM (the Global People´s Assembly Movement) of which a
key officer is Rob Wheeler robineagle@youthlink.org
who is co-ordinating a tri-lingual e-group discussing a world parliament. |
