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HOW TO REGULATE AND ORGANISE A STATE REFERENDUM

SINCE MAGNA CARTA 1215 SLOW PROGRESS


LEIPZIG: CITIZENS' PLEBISCITE STOPS SELL-OFF

SHROPSHIRE CITIZENS' PARISH POLL TO PROTECT TOWN PARK

EXPERT CALLS FOR EXTENDED DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS
(link to another page)

TAX AND LOCALISM AND CITIZENS' DEMOCRACY: RESPONSE TO TIMES ARTICLE

PARISH POLL VOTERS FAVOUR RE-OPENING CEMETERY GATE

REFERENDUM-DEMAND "FOR A HEALTHY CLIMATE"

HOW TO OBTAIN A REFERENDUM EVEN IF THE PRIME MINISTER SAYS NO!

DARLINGTON MAYOR BALLOT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT DEMOCRACY

PARISH POLL RULES (ENGLAND AND WALES) NEED REVISION


CITIZENS' DIRECT DEMOCRACY DEBATED IN "OURKINGDOM"

SWISS DEMOCRACY BY PAUL CARLINE

DEMOCRATIC PERSPECTIVE UPON GORDON BROWN'S CONSTITUTION SPEECH
TO THE COMMONS, JULY 2007
   (link to another page)

LETTER TO "THE TIMES"
Does power to the people mean democracy or direct participation?

CITIZENS DEMAND REFERENDUM ON EUROPEAN TREATY: DOWNING STREET
ADRIAN ROMILLY CALLS FOR OUR RIGHT TO FACULTATIVE (VETO) REFERENDUM
ON "SOVEREIGNTY" OF PARLIAMENTS AND CITIZEN LAW-MAKING 
(link to another page)

CITIZENS' DIRECT DEMOCRACY AT WORK

CZECH GOVERNING GREENS DRAFT REFERENDUM BILL (LINK)

 
QVORTRUP SPEAKS UP FOR DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN BRITAIN

WEAK DEMOCRACY: PETITION DOWNING STREET

LOCAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS: CHANCE FOR DD CAMPAIGN 

SAVE BERLIN'S CITY AIRPORT

ROUTINE SWISS DEMOCRACY

GM CROPS VIA THE BACK DOOR?

LOCALISM OR CITIZENS' DEMOCRACY?

DIRECT DEMOCRACY AND CONSTITUTION

ROWNTREE'S POWER INQUIRY

LINK TO MORE NEWS



HOW TO REGULATE AND ORGANISE A STATE REFERENDUM
Hungary

A referendum held in early March 2008 has been widely reported. I&R ~ GB reviews the regulations for Citizens' Direct Democracy in a country of the European Union.

From the Constitution of Hungary
Chapter I  General Provisions
Article 2  [Democracy, Rule of Law, Sovereignty]
(1) The Republic of Hungary is an independent, democratic constitutional state.
(2) In the Republic of Hungary supreme power is vested in the people, who exercise their sovereign rights directly and through elected representatives.
---------------------------------------------------
The Citizens' Initiative and Referendum
National Level
The "instruments" for direct democracy are Paragraph 28 of the Constitution and the Third Law of 1998 on national referendums and initiatives. Everyone who is eligible to vote in the national elections can participate in referendums and initiatives.

According to the constitution, a referendum can be either consultative or binding.

There are cases in which a referendum is obligatory; otherwise Parliament can choose whether or not to hold one.

If 200,000 eligible voters initiate it a referendum MUST be held; if the referendum is successfully carried out and the quorum reached then the outcome is binding on Parliament.

If the referendum is initiated by 100,000 voters, by the president of the republic, the government, or one third of the Members of Parliament, then Parliament has the right to decide whether or not to hold a referendum.

Before the collection of signatures can begin, a copy of the signature forms must be presented to the National Election Committee (NEC) for verification. The NEC can deny verification only if the question is not in the jurisdiction of Parliament, if it is not eligible for a national referendum, and/or if the formulation of the question and/or the form for collecting signatures does not comply with the law. The initiative can be presented to the chairman of the NEC within 4 months after verification.

An obligatory referendum is automatically binding. Also binding is a referendum on a law adopted by parliament but not yet signed by the president of the republic. A referendum initiated by the president, the government or one third of the members of parliament can be either consultative or binding, depending on the decision of the parliament. A binding referendum is successful if more than 50% of the valid votes cast are in favor and if these represent more than 25% of the electorate.

Referendum March 2008.

Over two hundred thousand endorsements for the referendum proposal had been collected so the government was obliged to organise a referendum.

The referendum addressed three topics
-- Fees paid for visiting a medical practice, 82.5
-- Fee demanded for an inpatient stay in hospital, 84.1
-- Fee (planned for Autumn 2008) demanded from students for attending university or college, 82.3

The electors were called to veto these items of government policy.

The figures shown are the percentage results after 99 percent of votes had been counted.

Some commentators have criticised the referendum topics as trivial but this Initiative may be seen as part of a decade-long campaign to oppose privatisation and commercialisation of health and educational services.

Acknowledgements to IRI-Europe; Der Standard (Austria); net-tribune.de


SINCE MAGNA CARTA 1215 SLOW PROGRESS
I&Rgb replies to Guardian leader and government minister Jack Straw MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.

    Magna Carta may have provided us with vestigial democracy but we must confront the reality that, in the countries of UK, in comparison with some other countries, we have not progressed much over 800 years. Over centuries the people struggled to achieve voting rights but only in the early 20th century did women get the vote and a few decades before that male workers could not vote either. We have achieved small advances, that the elected parliament is seen as the highest legislative body and that the electorate once every five or so years may vote for politicians. On the down side, the politicians' agenda follows a mandate which is at best vague, some would call it deceptive, and black sheep may not even be recalled between elections.
    Leaving the task of drafting a constitution of state to politicians and jurists such as Jack Straw is like appointing the fox to write the farm rules for the geese. Constitution is what constitutes We The People and to be valid and effective it must come from the people and be modifiable by them. The principle that state constitutions must emerge from a process of the widest public debate followed by referendum is accepted across the world. A "plebiscite" imposed by a ruling elite is *not* meant. The Citizens' Convention Bill introduced at Westminster by Charter88 (aka Unlock Democracy) is worthy of consideration here. Admittedly a constitution of state is complex and multi-facetted. Different sections could be put forward for public debate and then voted upon successively.
    From the above it follows that a culture of democracy and preferably well-tried instruments for its application should be available before a constitution-forming process is initiated. At the latest, our democracy should be improved in parallel with the beginning debate about rights and constitution. The reforms, opposed by the vast majority of politicians, should include: Citizens' law-proposal (covers constitution and change to constitution), "ballot issues"; Electorate-triggered referendum; Obligatory referendum on important treaties and changes to constitution; Facultative (optional) referendum, initiable by an agreed number of voters, effectively a veto of unwanted government law or policy.
    Author: Michael Macpherson I&R ~ GB Citizens' Initiative and Referendum Campaign for direct democracy in Britain http://www.iniref.org/ Posted at Guardian web site in reply to leading article http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/14/constitution.jackstraw


LEIPZIG: CITIZENS' PLEBISCITE
STOPS SELL-OFF
Posted to Usenet groups uk.politics.constitution, uk.politics.misc, scot.politics, uk.politics.parliament, uk.environment, alt.politics.british, alt.politics.media

In contrast to the way things are in the countries of the United Kingdom, in post-WW2 Germany the citizens of cities and regions (states of the federation) have effective tools of participation in politics beyond voting for candidates every few years.

A recent case is Leipzig. The city government had begun to sell off publicly owned services such as electricity supply and had worked out a deal with a large company. A citizens' initiative put forward a proposal to block the sale (and similar sales) for at least three years. After success of the "initiative", requiring some thousands of endorsements, a referendum was compulsory. This was held in January 2008 and with an overwhelming majority and respectable turnout "the motion was carried".

Now the city council will be forced to prepare a new plan for the city finances.

More information:
Leipziger gegen Verkauf ihrer Stadtwerke an Gaz de France
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6_9iPoxkPTszeO7yK4UUIhrHNzA

Leipziger Haushaltsplan muss nach Bürgerentscheid überarbeitet werden http://leipzig-seiten.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1736&Itemid=42

I&R ~ GB Citizens' Initiative and Referendum
Campaign for direct democracy in Britain
http://www.iniref.org/



SHROPSHIRE CITIZENS' PARISH POLL TO PROTECT TOWN PARK

Here's an example of the succesful use of the Parish Poll procedure.

Citizens of Hollinswood and Randlay Parish called on the district council to hold a poll (referendum) about Telford's 'Jewel in the Crown' Town Park. The district council, Telford and Wrekin Council, was then obliged to hold a poll in the parish.

Telford and Wrekin Council has announced the outcome of the parish poll.

The poll asked people to vote as to whether they agreed with the following statement: "We agree that Telford Town park's boundaries should be restored and kept as they were when the Commission for the New Towns handed the park to Wrekin District Council in 1991 as free open space for public use, and that there is no development upon it."

A total of 222 voters took part in yesterday's poll, with 214 voting yes and 7 voting no. One ballot was void. The turnout for the poll was 5.19%.

It is claimed that the low turnout was as a result of there being no promotion of the poll by the parish and because of the limited amount of time available for the actual voting to take place.

The rules for Parish Polls are to be found in the Local Government Act 1972. The Council is not obliged to comply with the result of the poll. For more detail see the blog item PARISH POLL RULES (ENGLAND AND WALES) NEED REVISION below

December 2007 

Source: http://shropshirenews.blogspot.com/2007/12/campaigner-vindicated-electorate-calls.html


TAX AND LOCALISM AND CITIZENS' DEMOCRACY: RESPONSE TO TIMES ARTICLE

Reply to P Riddell*. From The Times, November 14, 2007 "Tories pick the right issue but wrong answer"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/peter_riddell/article2865819.ece

I&Rgb replies:
We should extend the scope of "citizens' initiative and referendum".
This would allow a large number of electors (varying with size of
political unit) to put forward a proposal to introduce, change or veto
a law or public policy. If council or government rejects the proposal,
then a referendum of the whole electorate may be enforced. Genuine
direct democracy, an electorate can select and decide upon public issues
in addition to electing politicians.

The scope of citizens' initiatives corresponds, or should do, with the
remit of council, parliament or government. So, where the power of local
councils includes taxation then the local electorate should be able to
intervene by proposing a referendum.

How powers are distributed between state (centre) and smaller political
units is a matter of public constitution. There is broad international
acceptance that matters of constitution, whether its creation or
amendment, should be subject to referendum. Recent proposals for more
localism (devolution of powers to local government) involve change in
constitution.

For the UK and its countries, our provisional recommendation is to
introduce the optional referendum (in Switzerland "facultative") for
matters of constitution.

Published in Usenet 14th November 2007: uk.politics.constitution, uk.politics.misc, scot.politics

*** See related below LOCALISM OR CITIZENS' DEMOCRACY? -- a reply to Gordon Brown ***

Further information
http://www.iniref.org/

p.s. The Times declined to publish the above comment by I&Rgb.

*EXCERPT from P Riddell's article
"David Cameron has missed an opportunity with his new proposals on council tax. He talks the language of localism, but is reluctant to concede its substance. .......
"He rejected capping of council tax increases by Whitehall as “an old-fashioned idea straight out of the bureaucratic age”. Capping would be scrapped. Instead, councils that want to introduce high council tax rises, apparently those above the inflation rate, would have to submit their plans“ to a local referendum. Councils would explain why they want to raise their taxes by so much and show what they would do if their plans were rejected. Such ballots would be sent out with annual council tax bills and if rises were rejected there would be a rebate."


PARISH POLL VOTERS FAVOUR RE-OPENING CEMETERY GATE
November 14th 2007
Citizens of Sleaford, Lincolnshire apparently used the 1972 Local Government Act rules to demand that the Sleaford Town Council should hold a referendum. This is quite easy to do -- at a Parish Meeting only ten people, or a third of those present, can demand a "parish poll". A large majority voted for the citizens' proposal, against the Council. However, according to the Act, the result is not binding so that the Council is entitled to ignore it. (See item below "Parish poll rules (England and Wales) need revision"). PRESS REPORT


REFERENDUM-DEMAND "FOR A HEALTHY CLIMATE"

November 7th 2007
The Referendum-Demand (Volksinitiative) for a "Healthy Climate", according to the proposing group, has succeeded. The Association "Klima-Initiative" announced this Tuesday that 120,000 endorsements have been collected within five months .... Neue Zuercher Zeitung http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/medien/klima-initiative_zu_stande_gekommen__1.580462.html


HOW TO OBTAIN A REFERENDUM EVEN IF THE PRIME MINISTER SAYS NO!

Copy of letter to single issue pressure groups, lobbyists and pro-referendum (single issue) campaigners such as:

Democracy Movement
72 Hammersmith Road
London W14 8TH

Promises, promises. When will we have democracy?

We were promised a referendum
- on the electoral system for the House of Commons,
- on whether to join the European currency system and abolish the pound
sterling,
- on a proposed constitution for the European Union

but not one of these ballots has been held.

We urge campaigners to think beyond the single issue currently on the
agenda, at present the European "constitution".

For how many decades more should we continue to accept that a prime
minister and government can toy with the electorate's clear will  to
decide a particular issue by plebiscite?

We should urgently campaign for the procedures of citizens'
referendum-demand to be introduced.

If a large agreed number -- say one or two million -- voters sign a
proposal, then parliament must debate it. If the MPs turn it down, then
a referendum must be held.

Regards,

---------------------------------------------
I&R ~ GB Citizens' Initiative and Referendum
Campaign for direct democracy in Britain
http://www.iniref.org/indexxx.html




DARLINGTON MAYOR BALLOT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT DEMOCRACY

The Northern Echo wrote:
Democracy under spotlight as referendum count ends
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/display.var.1723559.0.0.php

Extract:
Spurred into action through dissatisfaction at the way the Labour-run
Darlington Borough Council had handled the Pedestrian Heart Scheme,
Hurworth School and Tesco's town centre plans, the Yes campaign had
gathered nearly 4,000 signatures to trigger the referendum.

And last night, Labour cabinet member Nick Wallis said lessons had been
learned from the poll.

He said: "I don't think status quo was on offer, the question is how we
move forward, how we listen better and how we engage with residents.
Change has started because, after knocking on doors for the May
elections, we saw the need for that."

COMMENT 4:05am Saturday 29th September 2007
Posted by: I&Rgb, Guildford on 10:11am today

Ways to improve voter satisfaction with government include providing
better ways for people to participate on those issues which are
important to them. The government decided that we are allowed to decide
by referendum about form of local council and whether to have a "boss
mayor". We can do better than that. Why limit our democratic rights to
only one topic? With the "initiative" (proposal) a large number of
voters can put forward a proposal on any issue in the council's area of
responsibility. For the mayor question this needs five percent of
eligible voters. The proposal can then be debated by the council and if
rejected it goes to referendum. More about this "citizens' democracy" is
at http://www.iniref.org/

I&R ~ GB

Posted to Usenet newsgroups: uk.politics.constitution, uk.politics.parliament, uk.environment, alt.politics.british, alt.politics.media, uk.politics.misc, scot.politics


PARISH POLL RULES (ENGLAND AND WALES) NEED REVISION

A loophole, really an error, in local government law allows a very small number of citizens of a parish to force a district council to hold a referendum. Clearly, our right to protest against government policy is important and the initiative shown by the activists in this case is praiseworthy. (See article about East Stoke cited below).

However, the democratic instrument ("parish poll") regulated in the Act of 1972 is defective and the regulations should be revised, preferably as part of a reform which entrenches our democratic rights of citizen-initiated referendum at all levels of governance.

For instance, only a substantial number of electors, not a handful, should be needed in order to trigger a referendum. A sliding scale, currently used in The Netherlands, offers a guide to proportion of  "signatures" needed, depending on size of the political unit (village, town, city etc.).

More detail about "citizens' democracy" is at
I&R ~ GB Citizens' Initiative and Referendum
http://www.iniref.org/

Regards
Michael Macpherson
---------------------------
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2492732.ece

An EU referendum will take place today, but only in the tiny parish of East Stoke, Dorset.

The village, population 339, will have its say thanks to a little used clause in the Local Government Act 1972 which permits a parish poll on any subject if at least ten people are in favour. Residents of East Stoke in the Isle of Purbeck put the matter to a show of hands at a parish meeting last month.

The mini-referendum was arranged by the UK Independence Party, which is campaigning for similar local votes elsewhere. Today’s vote is not on the reform treaty itself, but on whether there should be a national referendum.

Darren Patterson, a local activist, said: “We are hoping for a good turnout and hope about 100 people will vote.” However, Barry Quinn, a Conservative Purbeck district councillor, said that it was a waste of money that would be better spent on refurbishing the war memorial.

After East Stoke, the 865 residents of Lanteglos, near Fowey, in Cornwall will stage a parish poll on the same subject.

More about Parish Polls and Local Government Act 1972



CITIZENS' DIRECT DEMOCRACY DEBATED IN "OURKINGDOM"

Extract:

Gareth, from experience of partial direct democracy elsewhere we would expect most government business and parliamentary legislation to be done as before.

We would not advise introducing the obligatory referendum (e.g. for constitution change and international treaties) unless the electorate wants this instrument. With citizens’ initiative (proposal) and the optional veto referendum the electorate could choose when and on which issues to intervene.

Complex issues can be handled by “ordinary” citizens. This has been proved in studies of deliberative polling and citizens’ juries. And how much do you think the average MP can grasp about the biology of stem cell science? Surely ethical decisions should not be left only to the specialised scientists. Not long ago an initiative about gene-manipulated animals and plants went to referendum (Switzerland).

The “I and R” process is rather long - many months to years - so it cannot be applied to emergencies. Going to war? Well, at least principles could be set. (Emergency law can be retrospectively considered by I and R).

Comment by Michael Macpherson — 11 July 07


SWISS DEMOCRACY BY PAUL CARLINE

Federal): 1) amendment to military law (optional referendum); 2) federal law on civil defence (optional referendum); 3) 'Fair rents for tenants' (citizens' initiative); 4) 'One car-free Sunday per quarter' (citizens' initiative); ...
more


LETTER TO "THE TIMES"

Does power to the people mean democracy or direct participation?
July 5, 2007
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/peter_riddell/article2028757.ece

Riddell wrote "There is little dispute now that voters have a right to be involved between elections, rather than just every four or five years at the ballot box."
------------------------------
I&R ~ GB replies

It is good to hear this but many of P. Riddell's concerns about democracy reform which increases public participation are ungrounded. Gordon Brown's suggestions in this context are over-cautious.

Riddell fears that introducing the right to propose legislation will empower "vocal" groups. Well, yes, but it would also create the conditions for any person or group who has a serious suggestion or proposal to seek support for the idea and put it to the rest of us (maybe via parliament or council) for decision. Experience shows that not only  the "usual suspects" such as opposition parties and trade unions will propose policy etc. but also that ad hoc and small lobby groups can succeed.

A report about "57 varieties" of political participation for the Power Inquiry selected three for special praise: The citizens' deliberative assembly (as for British Columbia's constitution); Citizens' juries on public policy; Real direct democracy such as citizens' initiative and citizen-triggered referendum.

More about the latter may be found at the web site http://www.iniref.org/  and an account of how the procedures work in five nearby countries may be found in Journal of the Association for Accountancy & Business Affairs http://visar.csustan.edu/aaba/aabajourVol5-No1.html


CITIZENS DEMAND REFERENDUM ON EUROPEAN TREATY: DOWNING STREET
The appeal reads: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to guarantee that the
British people will be permitted a binding referendum on any and all attempts to resurrect the EU "constitution" (and any or all of its content) regardless of nomenclature.

In order to show your support for this demand for "binding referendum" CLICK


ADRIAN ROMILLY CALLS FOR OUR RIGHT TO FACULTATIVE (VETO) REFERENDUM
In reply to: Ruth Lea, Referendum on EU Constitutional Treaty, Telegraph, Sat June 30th 2007

Sir,
as matters stand, whether or not a referendum is held on the new EU Constitution is in the hands of the Primed Minister. This is not a satisfactory state of affairs in a democracy; we the electorate should not need to beseech the Prime Minister to grant us a referendum on this, or any other treaty.  The right for electors to petition for a veto referendum on a treaty, subject to a threshold of, say, 500,000 petitioners in favour of calling the referendum, should be written into our constitution.  Mr Brown, has said he wants to introduce constitutional reforms; he would make a good start by introducing a right to petition for a veto referendum.  This would certainly make the politicians listen (Mr Bragg Wed. June 27) to us in a way they have not hitherto. 
yours truly,
 
Adrian L Romilly, Plymouth, Devon, England  e-mail: AdrianRomilly AT  aol.com


ON "SOVEREIGNTY" OF PARLIAMENTS AND CITIZEN LAW-MAKING (more)

Michael Macpherson I&Rgb: As often in British debate about constitution what is glaringly missing is that essential organ of the body of state, the people. May2007


CITIZENS' DIRECT DEMOCRACY AT WORK


swisspolitics.org alert from 27.02.2007

Dear swisspolitics reader,
The next nationwide vote takes place on March 11th. Voters are invited to decide on the popular initiative for a single health insurance scheme.
For more information and links on the issues click on our special page:
http://www.swisspolitics.org/en/news/index.php?page=aktuelle_abstimmungen

QVORTRUP SPEAKS UP FOR DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN BRITAIN


Radio 4's Today programme 0845 on Saturday morning 17 Feb 2007
BBC writes: "Despite having attracted nearly a million and a half signatures the petition to stop road charging has not worked. So what does this sort of situation do to democracy? We ask Steve Richards & Matt Qvortrup."

Interview. Visit the 18 Doughty Street website click on the One to One programme and selecting Prof Qvortrup's interview with Michael Ediae (or search archive).

Supply Side Politics: How Citizens' Initiatives could revitalise British Politics, by Prof Matt Qvortrup, published by the Centre for Policy Studies, a conservative institute     DOWNLOAD      Source

Peter Riddell in The Times comments on Qvortrup


WEAK DEMOCRACY: PETITION DOWNING STREET

Subject: Petition Downing Street
From: INIREF
Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:42:54 +0100
Newsgroups: uk.politics.constitution,uk.politics.parliament,uk.environment,alt.politics.british,alt.politics.media,uk.politics.misc,scot.politics

The press corps seems impressed by the prime minister's on-line petition system -- see recent articles cited below.

Our view on this system is as follows: The Downing Street e-petition scheme's novelty may soon wear off. It does seem to be of some use as a way to bring problems and ideas to public attention. On the other hand even very good and well supported proposals can be ignored by the government.

Can we do better democracy? We think so. If say half a million people sign a proposal then parliament should be obliged to debate it and decide for or against. If they turn it down then the proposal should be put to the whole electorate in referendum (plebiscite). Local issues may be treated in the same way via the council.

Compare the petition at  http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/i-and-r.gb

For more information about citizens' law proposal (initiative) and referendum see http://www.iniref.org

Regards
Wallace-Macpherson

Background:
The Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/libby_purves/article1336496.ece

Guardian
Don't ignore a million angry voices, Mr Blair
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2010571,00.html


LOCAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS: CHANCE FOR DD CAMPAIGN 

Subject: Local council elections: Propose I and R
From: INIREF~GB
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:42:31 +0100
To: press@iniref.org
BCC:

Subject: Local council elections: Propose I and R

cc:
Our-Say, Saira Khan and friends
Diana Wallis MEP
Electoral Commission
Charter88, Ron Bailey
New Politics Network, Peter Facey
Unlock Democracy
Democracy International
Initiative and Referendum Institute - IRI Europe
Democratic Audit

Posted in TalkDemocracy 6th Feb 2007
http://www.talkdemocracy.org.uk/talk/

--------------------------------------------------

Friends and Colleagues:

In May 2007 there will be local elections.

Well prior to these I suggest that members of this forum put together broad recommendations for local DIRECT democracy, including the citizens' initiative and referendum. The proposal could then be sent to local news media, candidates for election and campaigning groups, perhaps concentrating on a selection of constituencies.

Is someone doing this already? If not, who would like to work on it?

Quite a few local councils have already run their own referenda. There appears to be no reason why they should not be able to do this. The result must not be formally binding on the council but a council could agreed in advance to be guided by the ballot.

(Similar proposals could be prepared for elections to Wales Assembly and Scottish Parliament).

Sincerely,
Michael

Dr. Michael Macpherson
I&R ~ GB Citizens' Initiative and Referendum
a campaign for direct democracy in Britain
http://www.iniref.org/


SAVE BERLIN'S CITY AIRPORT: FORMER CONSERVATIVE MP STARTS INITIATIVE
29 Nov 2006 Lobbyists for Tempelhof airport, Berlin FRG, will tomorrow launch a citizens' initiative to save the centrally situated airport which is threatened with closure. More ...

600.000 endorsements (signatures) will be needed for a referendum demand. If enough endorsements are obtained, unless the city government accepts the proposal unchanged, a binding referendum will follow.



ROUTINE SWISS DEMOCRACY
On November 26th 2006 citizens were invited to cast their ballots on the following issues :
- Standardisation of family allowances
- The Swiss contribution to the European cohesion fund
For more information see:
http://www.swisspolitics.org/en/news/index.php?page=aktuelle_abstimmungen
http://www.iniref.org/swissdemocracy.html


GM CROPS VIA THE BACK DOOR?

"Public opposition to GM crops is being overridden by a government
determined to back the industry"

"the government's view is that there is "no scientific case" for a
total ban. ... campaigners, suspect that the Environment Secretary,
David Miliband, is looking for a way to overcome public opposition."

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1904982.ece
Defra accused of introducing GM through back door By Andy McSmith 20 October 2006
I&R ~GB OPINION
Where there is a clear political will of the people then we should
exercise our right to decide by plebiscite.  In 2005 the Swiss  people,
following a citizens' law initiative, decided "in favor of a five-year
ban on the use of genetically modified plants and animals in farming"
(Reuters). Under two percent of registered voters can place such a
proposal on the public agenda and compel parliament to debate it.
Parliament may pass the proposal as law, put forward an alternative or
reject the proposal. In the latter two cases a binding plebiscite of
the whole electorate must be held.

I&R ~ GB Citizens' Initiative and Referendum
a campaign for direct democracy in Britain


LOCALISM OR CITIZENS' DEMOCRACY?
Posted 22 Sept 06 Guardian comment
 
According to today's Telegraph (24Sept06) Gordon Brown is going to offer a radical renewal of government. This includes so called localism expressed as "It means the devolution of power from central government to local communities and to individuals," echoing a conservative party group's campaign (falsely named) "Direct Democracy". Also he generously mentions the possibility that he is considering plans to "give" us a written constitution. In an earlier remark made in response to the Power Inquiry's 2006 report he conceded that those in power should perhaps "give" a little power to the people.

Brown apparently does not do democracy.
 
What am I getting at? For instance
 
1) We in Britain urgently need a review of the state constitution. A healthy way to do this would be to have a focussed and serious public debate about what we want and to organise a process of drafting which is fair, egalitarian and efficacious. This cannot be done by a government "constitution" department. A constitution enables a people and electorate to control, scrutinise and if necessary sanction its power-holding and -exercising bodies such as parliament, government and legal system. Allowing government to write the rules about governing is like setting the fox to guard the geese, or giving the stag the gardener's job.
 
 2) Power addicts across the political spectrum are attempting to cash in on the rising popularity of principles of stronger democracy with broad sweeping suggestions such as "devolution of power from central government to local communities and to individuals".  They carefully avoid to endorse effective ways to participate in power, such as the citizens' law-proposal ("initiative"), veto-referendum and "proposative" (electorate-triggered) plebiscite.
More detail about the latter is at http://www.iniref.org/learn.html
 
 Wallace-Macpherson
   
 
  DIRECT DEMOCRACY AND CONSTITUTION
  Posted to Taking Power
  September 6th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
A number of problems with our democracy and government are fundamental and may be termed constitutional, for instance the way we elect politicians or the structure, powers and functions of the second chamber of parliament, House of Lords. This sort of reform should not be “self-made” by parliament alone but should be made after information and debate which has involved, as far as reasonably possible, the whole electorate and many young people, future voters. The resulting proposals should be put to referendum, a plebiscite meaning “decision of the people”.

There’s a lot to be said for the method of people’s initiative or citizens’ law proposal. If a large agreed number of people endorse a proposal then it must go to parliament for debate and on to referendum if the MPs reject it.
The Our Say project for more direct democracy such as referenda is to be welcomed http://www.our-say.org
Lets hope that we can co-operate.

Our campaign I&R GB, for citizens’ initiative and referendum, has been up and running for longer. We offer lots of free information, welcome active members and supporters, see http://www.iniref.org/campaign1.html
Michael Macpherson
   
 
  ROWNTREE'S POWER INQUIRY
  Posted to Taking Power
  September 6th, 2006 at 3:17 pm
We have already published a response to the Power Inquiry. Here are some excerpts and a reference to the on-line document.
The PoWEr Inquiry provided helpful insights into how people across the land judge the hitherto conduct of (their own) public affairs by “the powers that be”, into their attitudes to our system of governance and to politicians. Answers to specific questions about how people would like to participate in local and national public affairs if given the chance are especially illuminating and encouraging, confirming survey data which we have previously cited (….) At least in the PoWEr report, “ordinary” people have their say. (….)
  PoWEr has included direct democracy with other reforms in a “packet” and “cherry-picking” is discouraged. PoWEr proposes three “fundamental shifts in the way politics is conducted in Britain” QUOTE
  • A re-balancing of power between the constituent elements of the political system: a shift of power away from the Executive to Parliament and from central to local government.(….)
  • The creation of an electoral and party system which is responsive enough to the changing values and demands of today’s population to allow the necessary and organic creation of new political alliances, value systems and organisations which better represent those values and demands.
  • The creation of a culture of political engagement in which policy and decision-making employs direct input from citizens. The system should provide citizens with clear rights and processes by which to exercise that input from conception through to implementation.
These three imperatives stand or fall alongside each other. The implementation of only one or two of the three will not create the re-engagement with formal democracy for which many people now hope. Elected representatives need greater freedom, but if they still belong to parties which have lost their connection with the wider public or have no reason to enter into detailed dialogue with that wider public, disengagement will continue. UNQUOTE
  I&R GB comments:
The most effective way to ensure that “policy and decision-making employs direct input from citizens”, as identified in PoWEr’s own survey (57 varieties, drafted by Graham Smith) is to introduce and apply elements of direct, citizens’ democracy as described (see link below) in connection with PoWEr’s Recommendation 24. These methods and procedures, such as citizens‘ initiative and referendum, enable the people of a polity to decide matters of constitution and to steer important policy issues. Thus, this “direct democracy” is a principle of higher order than all other proposed reforms. Direct democracy may, arguably should, be used to introduce major reforms and make changes to constitution.
  ——————————————–
  The above excerpts are taken from a short on-line paper which may be loaded down free from http://www.iniref.org/poWEr.prelim.html
  Comment on the Report 2006 of the Rowntree Trusts’ Power Commission — Power to the People
  What’s in it for direct democrats?
  Preliminary response
  Regards
  Michael Macpherson

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