Why are people afraid of direct democracy?

There were strange scenes inside Congress last week when geriatric senators suddenly stopped working. Dianne Feinstein, a 90-year-old senator from California, apparently confused and out of it, was told by a staff member to “say yes” to the defense appropriations bill.

Meanwhile, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, 81, appeared to have suffered a stroke at the podium.

These two senators are not the only ones to be very old. The age of Congress is rapidly increasing.

This is not irrational. Everyone knows that the older and older a member of Congress is, the more power they have to influence policy and help their respective state. Seniority comes with connections and influence. Voters understand that, and that’s why Congress is aging. The problem is, who does the real work of governing? Extremely old politicians are only there for seniority. The 32-year-old does the job of governing, researching, working on policy and finding out what voters really want. These employees run the government. Not the politicians.

Who are these workers? I do not know. They are not elected. They come and go. It’s a strange place American democracy has come to, to be honest. But gerontocracy is just one attribute of modern politics. There are others.

This is the tragedy of politics today. We have to choose between 100 percent right or 100 percent left. Instead of having policies that are 51% left and 49% right (or the other way around), where most people fall that satisfy total preferences, we get results that are 100% right or 100% to the left.

Think how many elections you see these days end up being 51 to 49. It seems like every election now is 51 to 49. And whoever gets 51%, the winner takes it all. It seems to me that this could be destabilizing in the future. How much longer will we be able to live between 51 and 49 with 2 percentage points implementing all their unilateral policies?

Personally, when I look at the list of issues from the right or the left I find myself wanting to vote for a certain combination of both sides. Sometimes these issues change. check the amount of beliefs of a group, especially on uncorrelated matters.

But it doesn’t work that way. I must vote for a representative of a party who will only implement the political choice of the party he represents. And these holidays get further and further away every year.

This year in the NBA draft the number 1 player chosen was Victor Wembanyama. He’s 7-foot-5 and plays basketball like a shooting guard.

The same thing happens to politicians. The main attributes and skills of modern politicians are that they are very good at getting elected. The most common profession among members of Congress is to be a career politician. More than half of US senators previously served in the House of Representatives, for example. During the 1950s and earlier, it was more common for individuals to have careers outside of politics before running for office. Lots of “regular jobs” then.

What does a modern politician have to do to succeed in America? Most importantly, they have to be great at raising money from wealthy donors. Money rules American politicss.

Wealthy donors are interested in a relationship with the politician. They want to influence the politician beyond a policy. They can even pool for influence with other wealthy donors and have considerable influence over that politician’s voting record. Voters aren’t even in the room or thought about.

Politicians also have to worry about their life after politics. They won’t get a normal job like you and me. They must be committed to developing a political industry that includes media, lobbyists, consultants and think tanks because politics is their career.

Sometimes I think voting for people rather than political policies is better suited for TV talent shows, not politics.

The United States is not a direct democracy. Laws are not made by majority vote of citizens. Some states have implemented referendums at the local level, but this is only a small fraction of all legislation. However, direct democracy is gaining popularity lately. Let’s explore this governance model of Lindy.

1) Why is direct democracy popular all of a sudden?

2) Why do conservatives fear it?

3) What kind of conservative policies have been passed in Switzerland and California with direct democracy?

In June 2022, The Supreme Court issued a decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization roll back abortion law and regulation in the states, erasing 50 years of precedent. Following this ruling, liberal citizens began using direct democracy procedures in order to constitutionally protect abortion in their respective states. This means they collected signatures on constitutional amendments, referendums and statutes to put on the ballot so citizens could vote.

Progressives are succeeding by focusing on the voters themselves and bypassing legislatures. The Conservatives have accepted none of this and are now playing defense. It has even begun to seep into the conservative ideology machine. The National Review wrote an article against direct democracy.

Even Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy spoke out against it.

This type of conservative ideology is afraid of the masses or potential mob rule. He is comfortable with an “enlightened elite” who can guide the nation properly. The fear is that they cannot compete for voters. This direct democracy will lead to the mafia taking your house, taxing you at 90% or removing the prisons. Is this rational? I do not think so.

The nation of Switzerland and the state of California are two places that make extensive use of direct democracy. They are also the richest places on earth. When I look at his record I see a mix of conservative and liberal policies.

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