Plan for Direct-Indirect-Coexisting Democracy


―――― An Idea of New Political System in the Internet Age  ―――




By Hiroshi Mine

(President of the Association for New Assembly System)




The1st Stage

 
Those who want to participate in decisions of measures in the Diet, shall apply for effacement of their own names on the voters' lists, and they will obtain their own right to "direct decision" instead. The government shall give them security methods like passwords and IDs, and computer sets as well. When the measures in which they have interest are inquired about, they can join any decisions in the Diet through (personal) electronic media at the same time.

  Then, their "Yes or No" answer shall be totaled and added as one vote on the digital screen in the Diet. For representatives' will, computer technology shall be used. However, their votes are not measured by "one person one vote" system, but the number of ballots they won in the election shall be totaled. In this way, every gap of one vote per each different region could disappear. The total number of ballots might be about 50 million. (For the representatives elected by proportional representation system, the average of the number of ballots they won in their homeground (electoral districts) shall be added.)  

  If this action is realized, representatives shall have totaly 35 million's ballots on one hand, and the electorate 10-15 million's vote for decisions. This plan aims to help sovereignty of those who have strong will to join political process, and does not intend to change general social system of a country radically. Because of the needof accountabilities and responses of Ministries in case of emergency, foreign diplomacy politics, etc., representative democracy is also necessary.

   For this reason, the rate of direct voting in the Diet should be maximum 50 percent. (Actually the rate of direct voting would be within 20-30 percent of all the electorate.) If 60 percent of the people should apply for the direct voting, a problem would arise here ---- one vote would be condensed into 0.8 vote. As 7/10 of measures will be ones that people have no interest in, so representatives should treat such measures as their own responsibility. There is a proposal that voting rate (abstention's rate as well) should be equivalent to the joining rate of direct voting. 
  
  On this first step, this system is still not useful for us to the extent that it can contribute to our environmental and welfare reform, because all the measures proposed to the Diet reflect every interest of the government and national authority, where incredibly irrational way of a "package" decision is often carried out.  In this stage, only an opportunity to realize people's sovereignty ------ the first door of political barrier will be open. Here the existing power would strongly stand against this plan, however, in the next stage, we will be able to have a possibility that measures proposed by the people (mainly by citizen NGOs) can be the formal ones.
 

The 2nd Stage

  In the 2nd stage, every person is free to subscribe his/her own political measure on "the official website for citizen initiative"----each title shall be within 30 letters, summary be run within one page, and text within 30 pages. In many places and districts, new NGOs for making laws by citizens are founded, and the people will bring their orignial measures into such new organizations managed by ordinary citizens. Certainly, considered laws in each committee of the Diet, as well as people's petition shall be subscribed. Thus the number of "subscribed" measures might amount to about 100 by the government, a few hundred by NGOs, and about 500 for the number of petitions ----- totaly 1000 initiative measures might be initiated. (In case of US, the number amounts to several hundred now.)

  This "official website for citizen initiative" is free to be accessed and read as well. A "printed magazine" version of the website is also considered. As by using a PC connected with TV, computer will be able to be used much easily and costless, finally around half of the people can join and subscribe their originally initiated measures.

  On ”the official website” should be added a "questionnaire space", where participants can read and mark on one submitted measure which he/she approves. The number of total mark account on this web shall be summed up, and the most 10 measures shall be selected as "approved ones". Temporarily in the Diet shall be discussed on totally 30 approved measures, three times a year. But for the number of the measures shall be determined in the Diet, as well as for capacity of the people. In this stage, selection of these "approved measures" as such is important, so people are not forced to show their own opinions on the website. Naturally, there are some other possible (alternative) ways for selecting 10 measures.

   Adding some good ideas of political parties, specialists and citizen NGOs, these selected 10 measures shall be shown on the special website: "bulletin of selected measures" , which we are free to read. Massmedia will also write a special article for these 10 measures. In this way, we are to enter two-months period's public discussion on these measures.

  In cyberspace, some political forums are bulid up, where a lot of ideas and critiques on each measure shall be in discussion, although large part of the people will not join them. Measures that were not selected shall be discussed and made decisions in the Diet one after another, in the normal way of representative system. Here also representatives play an important role on one hand, and those who want to join political process can also participate in making all decisions in the Diet through electronic media on the other hand.


The 3rd Stage

 
  We shall step into the 3rd stage, after we experienced the above 2nd step for 5 years. In this stage, "decision system" shall be improved. For the people who participated in direct voting, the same system shall be unchangerably guaranteed. Only representative voting system shall be changed. That is, the votes of defeated candidates in indirect election shall be totaled again by each political party, and they shall be added on the ballots for parties totaled by proportional representation system. (This plan includes a contradiction that ballots from each electoral district are added to those by proportional representation, so that a new idea might be needed as preparing for additional 10-20 seats in the Diet for supplementary portion of proportional system. Or there is another idea that defeated candidates can handle a right to join political process in proportion to the number of ballots they won.)

   In this way, dead ballots can be revived and my plan of direct-indirect-coexisting democracy will be completed. Here people cannot say any more, "politician must take responsibility for all social vices. " Instead, they cannot but say, "all social vices come from political indifferentism(apathy) of the people."  It is sure that people's political interst would increase and their experience that they got their own sovereginty would give them much satisfaction. An irrational situation that only 20 percent of the people who endorse ruling parties controls all politics, would disappear at all.





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