(June 16, 2016 at 5:37 pm)abaris Wrote:(June 16, 2016 at 5:28 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: California allows citizens to make laws via referenda. It makes a clusterfuck of state law.
Switzerland fairs pretty well with it. Citizens, surprisingly so, often vote for what seems the less popular option. But, then again, the Swiss have that kind of system for a very long time and are conditioned to make up their minds. It's also what I would call, a very silent country. I would be hard pressed to say who's ruling there right now.
I can't speak to the state of education and civic interest in Switzerland, but in California -- and this will sound like a shitty thing to say, but it's true (and probably of many other American states as well) -- the catastrophic state of education means that the masses of voters are terribly unqualified to write or endorse laws. There's a distinct ignorance of, if not disregard for, the Law of Unintended Consequences.
