Richard Lack's Blog

Democracy and the Blogosphere event

The Adam Smith Institute is hosting an evening seminar on

Democracy and the Blogosphere

with Stephen Pollard, New Labour journalist and broadcaster
William Heath, Chairman of Kable (publishers of Government Computing)
Perry de Havilland, Chief Editor of Samizdata.net and Partner of the Big Blog Company
and Sandy Starr, Spiked Online

on Tuesday 16 November 2004 at 6:15pm for 6:30pm
at the Institute’s offices at 23 Great Smith Street, London SW1
Dress: jacket and tie

If you would like to attend, please e-mail blogevent@adamsmith.org in order to get a place. We have limited space, so it's important to book. The event will be followed by a champagne reception. Click here for a map.

Here's the blurb...

Much hype surrounds the internet's self-publishing phenomenon known as blogging. Many claim that the blogosphere - the community of millions of blogs - is the key to reinvigorating the political process. Some believe that, using blogs, politicians will better serve their constituents, the disaffected will become involved in politics, and public confidence in the ability of government to solve society's problems will skyrocket.

There are also those who fiercely believe that, if only MPs would all start blogging, public debate would be dramatically revitalised. Is this wishful thinking in the age of spin doctors and party whips? Would more conversation with the public encourage our MPs to follow better policies, or lead to governance by opinion poll?

Does the blogosphere really strengthen the political progress, or is it more anti-Establishment than the Establishment would like to believe? Should the unprecedented ability of citizens to spread criticism of the state, its actions and its employees be cause for governmental alarm? Can our political process withstand such scrutiny? And is the blogosphere the big, equality-driving democracy so many claim that it is, or is it really a meritocracy, where the most interesting, compelling, and worthwhile ideas rise to the top?

EU Survey from www.yourparty.org

As many of you know, I sit on the interim board of an organisation called Your Party (www.yourparty.org). Your Party's aim is to promote greater democracy and public participation in the political process. To give everyone a real say in the decisions (local, national and international) that affect their lives.

To mark the European elections (on June 10th) we have just launched a survey on Europe : http://www.yougov.com/asp_bespollprojects/ypr/ypr040101009/1.asp

The survey asks the question no-one else seems to be asking : what do YOU want from Europe and the EU ?

I know the EU isn't everyone's favourite topic of conversation but PLEASE don't ignore this. I'm assured by people who've taken the survey that it's both enjoyable and thought-provoking ! And it hardly takes any time - there's a short (1 minute) and a long (3 minutes) version.

It's also important. Everyone will have different views on the EU but, with 70% of new UK law coming from the EU, it affects all of us. There's also a huge debate going on about the future of the EU and Britain's role in it. But how can we decide on the best way forward, on what an appropriate constitution (if any) should look like, if we don't know what kind of Europe we want in the first place? This survey looks to answer that fundamental question.

Once we have the results we're going to lobby the EU and the politicians to address the views expressed in the survey - and the more people who take the survey the stronger our voice will be. So please take it - and please tell your friends and contacts about it by forwarding this survey to them.

Direct Democracy in California - a primer

California has the sixth largest economy in the world and still relies on it's citizens to make up policy as they go along. That's like....totally crazy!

Picture for a moment: Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger sat at the grown-ups' table of the G8 summit with Italy's Berlusconi gesticulating wildly at the impudence of Numero Otto's exclusion from the uber-club of world politics. That's not such a strange thought when you consider that California's GDP is bigger than Italy's.

Say what you like about California. That it's populated in equal part by crazies, hippies and groupies. That its film industry has deflowered our language and depraved our children, or that its 'playful' Governor is an international joke. But don't underestimate this bunch of 35m weirdos with a combined GDP of $1.4 trillion. Theirs is a strip of land that has been a haven for the disenchanted, the oppressed and the hopeful for over 150 years. Ask Californians what their State stands for, and somewhere in their reply you'll hear "Freedom".....or "Dude"

I lived in San Francisco during the late 90's and saw that freedom best expressed in California's Direct Initiatives system. If you think this is unique to California then look again. A total of 10 U.S states now use voter initiatives as a method of partly or completely by-passing the legislature and enabling voter backed 'propositions' to be written into state law. Drive route 101 out of San Francisco at election time and you'll see building sized billboards asking you to "Vote No on prop 77". To the uninitiated this all looks a lot like Government-by-Numbers. I have a picture in my mind's eye of George Bush - tongue out and green crayon at the ready.

California's own system has been in place since 1911 and allows any voter to circulate a petition directly to the electorate for 150 days in all California counties. If the outcome of the petition is intended to revise a state statute then a number of signatures equal to 5% of the turnout of the last Gubernatorial election in each county will suffice. If it involves overturning the Californian constitution then 8% in each county is necessary to get to the next stage of random signature verification and a ballot by voters.

Critics of the system point to its vulnerability as a stalking horse for special interest groups and lobbying organisations. I'd say that depends on your definition of a special interest group. Lately the term has been hijacked by the establishment and taken to mean anybody who disagrees with them. Certainly it's normal for any group of aggrieved people to form themselves into a group before taking action - isn't the rest up to democracy? Were the suffragettes a 'lobby'? Did Luther-King start a 'special interest group'? I don't think these labels forward the debate. What we're talking about here are just plain issues. There are always lobbies on both sides of the ballot paper. A reading of proposition 22 passed in 2000 and outlawing the recognition of gay marriage suggests that despite a huge gay population in liberal San Francisco - the rest of California is yet to be persuaded, even in the face of an organised, solvent and formidable 'pink lobby'. Last month saw the Supreme Court come down on the side of the people who helped enact this Statute when it ordered a defiant San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom to revoke thousands of unlawful marriage licenses.

With more than 1,100 propositions that made the cut over the years, the now almost legendary Proposition 13 in 1978 leads them all. Some say it heralded in the Reagan era of lower taxes and less government. Don't ya'll be forgetting now that Reagan, also an ex film star with a populist knack was Governor of the Golden State in the 1970's. Few expected proposition 13 to survive in the wake of two previous failed attempts. But by 1978 the time was right with high inflation, and property taxes running at 30% of home values. Some families were forced to sell their homes to fill Sacramento's coffers and were moving out of state. Proposition 13 was passed by a two-thirds majority and slashed property taxes by 30% while imposing restrictions on annual rises, which survive to this day, and triggering a nationwide tax revolt that unseated Jimmy Carter. Family friendly taxes brought Californians a second gold rush throughout the 80's and made them the envy of all America.

The electorate's wish for change isn't just reflected in an admittedly "I've got mine and you ain't gonna get none!" message to the tax man. The list of propositions includes everything from the repeal of liquor prohibition (passed 64%), abolition of the death penalty (failed), the end of positive discrimination by the state (passed 54%), limits to congressional terms (passed 52.93%), increased sentencing for repeat offenders (passed 72%) and before and after school programs (passed 56.7%). Take a look here for the full list and a brief history lesson.

It's true that the ability of normal Californians to keep State Government in check is a source of frustration, even for Governors as popular in the public imagination as 'Ahhnuld'. The People Who Know Best tell us that it's vital for Schwarzenegger to impose restrictions on this costly and pesky direct initiative system if he's going to repair the Golden State. The truth is that direct initiative propositions aren't part of the problem - they have become part of the solution. Arnie recently won proposition 57, authorising him to issue a $15bn debt bond which he described as "clearing the state's credit card debts". He did this by parcelling it alongside the more palatable proposition 58, which obliges... politicians to balance state budgets in the future. How novel. Early signs are that California is now coming out of the flat spin that it's been in since 2001. It's leading the way in America's recovery and is proof positive that direct democracy can deliver results - and commonsense policy, with the people telling their Governor- "Hey Big Guy. We'll bail you out....ONCE!
If you could start a proposition today that would be signed by 5% of the turnout in each of your local electoral wards - what would it be? Abolition of wheelie bins? Cuts in council tax? Removal of speed humps?
It's your choice ...and it starts here.