In Ancient Greece, the idea of a republic (from the Latin res publica, the "public thing"), primarily that of Athens, was taken quite literally, with the citizens gathering on a daily basis to vote on legislation and bills, rather than electing certain people to do it for them. Part of the reason this was able to work was because of their close proximity; within just one city it is relatively easy for voters to gather regularly.
When America was forming its government, it was quite impractical to have a national government in this form. The area of the United States of course is eminently larger than that of Athens, and the form of transportation had not made many significant improvements. In the last few decades, however, an alternative way of gathering has formed.
Assuming we had reliable ways of keeping out hackers and ensuring that every person only got one vote, how would opening up the government to the people, or at least certain parts of it, through the use of the internet affect our nation?
I think people would be more involved in policy making and they would realize how much they are needed to make a successful nation. I think the government should be more open about what is going on.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be interesting to see a GoogleDoc with a proposition on it. We do group projects on them. Why not rework the constitution? :)
Was that sarcasm? :P I wasn't thinking of going that far. In fact, my opinion has changed slightly since I wrote this post. I'm glad someone commented on it though, I'm planning on doing a new one working off of this one.
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