Difference between revisions of "InstaGov/introduction/limits to citizen authority"

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(New page: A caveat about citizen control over the government: It is true that even American democracy limits exercise of that authority to certain particulars (e.g. voting), and it would probably b...)
 
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Latest revision as of 16:23, 1 June 2008

A caveat about citizen control over the government:

It is true that even American democracy limits exercise of that authority to certain particulars (e.g. voting), and it would probably be a good idea to explore the reasons for this: how much of this restrictiveness was because the founding fathers didn't trust the citizenry to make good decisions, and how much was simply due to the practical limitations of the informational infrastructure of 18th century America?

The principle remains, however: The government is supposed to be ours, working on our behalf and answerable only to us.

We may need some guard-rails around the pitfalls, but we shouldn't be handcuffed to them for our "safety".