When Representative Democracy Got Idealistic
Almost every democracy is “representative”. Let Glyn Moody describe it : “Yes, elections take place, but after that, politicians just seem to do what they want, with little concern for what the public really thinks about the laws that they push through.” Except if you are a Swiss citizen. There it’s easy to call for a popular vote: “If 50,000 signatures are collected from Swiss voters or eight cantons [Swiss states] demand a referendum within 100 days, then a popular vote is held.” Keeping Switzerland’s size and population in mind, 50,000 is not as trivially small a number as it might be in other countries; but nor is it an impossibly big number to get either. If you think India needs such a system, join the queue: Germany needs it before us! Why? Because Chancellor Angela Merkel, an otherwise cautious politician who knew the pulse of the voters, has changed. As George Soros said : “In the case of the (Syrian) migration issue, she did act on principle.” Now keep in Ge