Direct Democracy?

[Minimalist]

I had mentioned direct voting on issues at the "local" level, more referendum voting at the municipal and state level, and the ability to hold recall elections across the board (including congress),

That probably sounds good in theory but the reality - which we have here in AZ - is something quite different.  You don't get rid of special interests by cloaking them in populist rhetoric.

Every year there are 6-8 pieces of shit usually sponsored by some business group looking for a break.  What passes for reasoned debate are highway signs with such messages as:

"Yes on 205"  or "No on 205."  If someone was particularly interested they could find out what "205" was all about. 

Here is a case study on Arizona Prop. 200 from 2008.  This was a measure to override the legislature which had shut down the Pay Day loan - a particularly vile form of usury which hammered low-income people most. 

http://ballotpedia.org/Arizona_Payday_Lo...%282008%29

You will not, I hope, be surprised by this:

Donors to Proposition 200

By the end of July, supporters of Prop. 200 had given about $8.7 million to a campaign committee organized to promote the initiative. The Arizona Republic reported that "nearly every cent...has been donated by - guess who? - a trade group representing payday lenders: the Arizona Community Financial Services Association."[8]

This is not an ancient city state like Athens or Rome where citizens could attend meetings of the local assemblies if they wished.  We are far too spread out for that.  And even if we were, one needs to remember the words of Niccolo Machiavelli:

Those who have found themselves witnesses of the deliberations of men have observed, and still observe, how often the opinions of men are erroneous; which many times, if they are not decided by very excellent men, are contrary to all truth. And because excellent men in corrupt Republics ((especially in quiet times)) are frowned upon both from envy and from other reasons of ambition, it follows that a common deception (error) is judged good, or it is put forward by men who want favors more readily for themselves than for the general good.


The Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy, II: XXII

I have to agree with Nick.