From the blog of Garth Turner, Canadian Member of Parliament's blog:
"When my great grandfather Ebenezer Bodwell went to Ottawa in 1867 to be the MP for Oxford, he carried with him the trust of all constituents. He knew that once the election was over, they had no choice but to trust him, since Ottawa was a long ways by horse. He rode off to represent them, since they had no other voice. But here we are. Today the work of MPs and government is well understood by everyone. Media bathes us in information and there is almost nothing our political masters know before we do. We are informed, educated, involved – and wired. And yet we still have a 19th Century political system in place in which we vote for an MP, and with that vote surrender our ability to actually get the laws we want...
So, given the fact we are all involved, and getting more connected every day, why can't we also have more influence over our own country?
(Thanks to Richard Hamilton for the link and the quote.) [Tags: politics government blogs garth_turner canada]
Posted
by D. Weinberger at April 14, 2006 02:49 PM
Comments
The same sentiment was famously expressed on June 17, 1995 by the Economist, in a series titled The Future of Democracy.
I think today the Swiss have the political system which is the nearest to a direct democracy.
Posted by: Gaspar | April 14, 2006 03:20 PM
Umm, there's reasons for representative aspects of government rather than everything being done by referendum.
Posted by: Seth Finkelstein | April 14, 2006 06:16 PM
Seth, I agree. I guess that makes me a republican :(
The "getting it" referred to his wholehearted embrace of blogging, not the content of his blog.
Posted by: David Weinberger | April 15, 2006 08:28 AM
What are these grand reasons we have for representation?
Posted by: Branko Collin | April 15, 2006 09:12 AM
The Rashness of the Crowd.
Posted by: David Weinberger | April 15, 2006 10:32 AM
So we cut off the plough-hand, so that it not be abused as a sword-hand?
Posted by: Branko Collin | April 15, 2006 10:53 AM
I work in Switzerland, and I can attest that the Swiss crowd uses it's immense power with careful attention. A very responsible crowd, maybe because they got responsibility.
Posted by: Gaspar | April 15, 2006 12:37 PM
As Thomas Hobbes said in the 17th century, direct democracy creates an "aristocracy of orators." Guess old Hobbes wouldn't have taken to bloggers too well.
Posted by: Noel Guinane | April 15, 2006 05:48 PM
Hi David,
FYI - Big news in Canada today - Garth Turner was turfed out of his party because of his blog (and other things) today.
See: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=98f83c5b-5073-4b2d-8dc6-a20034397584
It even pulls quotes from his blog.
Posted by: Richard | October 18, 2006 08:32 PM