Full text: Arvind Kejriwal's letter to the Aam Aadmi
Direct Democracy : can be defined as a form or system of democracy giving citizens an extraordinary amount of participation in the legislation process and granting them a maximum of political self-determination.
Your opinion on formation of minority Govt in Delhi by AAP
Form : http://bit.ly/aap01
SMS : +918806110335
Direct Democracy : can be defined as a form or system of democracy giving citizens an extraordinary amount of participation in the legislation process and granting them a maximum of political self-determination.
Your opinion on formation of minority Govt in Delhi by AAP
Form : http://bit.ly/aap01
SMS : +918806110335
As someone with a first-hand knowledge of Swiss Direct Democracy, I can say that Arvid Kejriwal is incorporating many elements of Swiss Direct Democracy into the way the AAP interacts with their constituents in Delhi. These elements include as much direct contact between party candidates and their constituents, spending as little money as possible in campaigning, calling townhall meetings (Jan Sabhas) to create consensus between the party and their constituents on issues important to the constituents and most importantly directly conveying to their constituents what the goals of the AAP are. An Op-Ed piece by Pyaralal Raghavan titled "Direct democracy rocks" on the editorial page of The Times of India of 19.12.2013 (Page 16) very succinctly addresses this issue.
ReplyDeleteDirect democracy rocks Pyaralal Raghavan
AAP’s decision to go for a public referendum on accepting Congress support to form a government in Delhi is a triumph of democracy. By giving its grassroots cadre and the people a major say
in government formation, AAP has not only upheld the basic principles of political morality but also given a big boost to direct democracy. This party’s efforts to make extensive use of referendums would help Indian democracy evolve the strong foundations built at Independence. This will help us catch up with other democratic nations that have embedded direct democracy into their institutional structures .
Switzerland is the best known example of successful direct democracy. Referendums are also used as an important instrument in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Chile. As for the US, in states as varied as California, Oregon and Arizona, enough signatures mean an initiative on the ballot. This, in turn, means voters directly express their approval or disapproval for specific policies.
Actually direct democracy or referendums are not unfamiliar to India either, although they have been restricted to local levels. The Panchayat Act allows gram sabhas to take decisions by consensus or by vote on important issues like use of natural resources. The bottom line is that AAP is building on both national and international successes of the direct democracy model, in pushing for a referendum on government formation in Delhi. Its voters are ready for a different era of politics, where public policy by referendum is a desirable proposition, given the many problems of representative democracy that have become all too evident in the Indian context. Of course, modern technologies such as the internet and SMS messages make direct democracy quite feasible.