 Initiative and referendum movements in the U.S. "The George Wilson Show" George Wilson, talk show host for XM radio, the rapily-growing U.S. radio service beamed to cars and homes nationwide by satellite, asked AdTI's Gregory Fossedal, author of Direct Democracy in Switzerland, about the prospects for initiative and referendum at the national level in the U.S. "You have access to a lot of leading people in Washington, Gregory," Wilson said. "Can you tell me if any of the top people in Congress or the White House support this idea?" "Well, unfortunately, I can't say there's great deal of support from senior elected officials," Fossedal said. "This should not be highly surprising. This is a political reform that would in some ways limit our political leaders -- another check and balance, if you will, as we have now in the Constitution, but this one coming from the people." "There are, however, some very serious-minded people who support this. One of them is Mike Gravel, a former U.S. Senator who is promoting a popular vote in Maine this fall to provide for federal initiative and referendum. If that effort succeeds, and I think it will, it will expand after November. "Then you have people like Dane Waters, Paul Jacobs, and others, who were leaders in the term-limits movement in the United States. The feeling among many of those leaders, and their supporters, is that something more is needed -- and that direct democracy, empowering every citizen in the United States to share in making the laws we live under, is the way to go." "The way these things happen -- particularly political reform -- is, you start with a coalition like this, it builds, and then, later, political and journalistic elites follow along. I believe that will happen in this case, too." "I can understand that," Wilson said. "This is a grass roots thing, like civil rights. You start out with a few leaders that no one knows about, and it grows." Wilson noted that Fossedal's book on the country which uses direct democracy most extensively, Switzerland, places him in a good position to judge its impact. "What are the strongest two or three reasons for it, based on the Swiss?" "I would say the two strongest reasons are, first, the impact on citizenship, on people both feeling they have a voice, and taking responsibility for that power, in their towns, their families, and their whole country. The two things inevitably go together -- responsible behavior, and authority -- and when you give people the authority to govern themselves, they do it will. Often I'm asked if we are 'ready' for direct democracy, and the answer is, 'maybe not' -- that is why we need it." "It's like learning to swim," Wilson agreed. "You have to get in there and start doing it." Fossedal also responded to questions about the Swiss tax code, the country's low rates of crime and high degree of competence in math and reading and languages, and on Swiss participation in such institutions as the army, schools, and elections. "The Swiss don't vote more often," Fossedal noted, "but they vote more often. What I mean is, the turnout for any given election is between 30 to 70 percent, as in most of ours -- maybe slightly higher, but not much. The Swiss may vote, however, up to several times a year, between federal initiatives, cantonal ones, community measures, and so on. Viewed in terms of the number of ballots cast per year, Switzerland's voter participation must be double or triple that of any other democracy." "That is, I should say, one of the disadvantages of direct democracy -- it is a lot of work. People have to donate time, study issues, form associations at the popular level rather than relying on elites for everything. I think most Americans would find this idea of an enhanced community, a richer popular polity, extremely attractive -- but to get the benefits, you have to be willing to pay the price in terms of citizen input." "I'm going to put it very simply for you listeners," Wilson said. "I want everyone to go out and buy this book and find out about what a great country Switzerland is and how we can learn from its direct democracy." "You are an author's dream," Fossedal answered. "The best ways to get the book are to go to Amazon.com and buy it, or, if you want to save a little money off their price, buy it off the Tocqueville web site at Adti.net. After that endorsement, George, I'm afraid we'll have to give you a commission." Scott Zarnstorff |