From: Zero Powers (zero_powers@hotmail.com)
Date: Sun Jun 11 2000 - 10:06:18 MDT
>From: GBurch1@aol.com
>
>Regarding the original proposal in this thread to have a web-enabled
>popular
>legislative process, I have misgivings on two fronts:
>
>1. "There Ought to be a Law". Do we really want to make it easier to pass
>new laws more quickly in response to "popular" concerns? In many instances
>it takes time to see the full outlines of a matter of current broad public
>concern. I'd be afraid of a process like this making legislation a simple
>reflection of fads and momentary preoccupations.
There is one thing that legislatures do better than almost any other
institution: compromise. If legislation were left up to purely democratic
vote (i.e., tyranny of the majority), legislative compromise would be thrown
out the window and the desires and concerns of the minority would be go with
it. This is precisely the sort of situation which led to the only civil war
in the US.
-Zero
"I like dreams of the future better than the history of the past"
--Thomas Jefferson
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