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Pure Democracy

Definition
 
   A democratic republic is governed by elected representatives who vote on behalf of the people. A pure democracy, however, is conducted by the citizens themselves who vote on the issues directly without the need of representation.
Structure
 
   The structure of a pure democracy consists of two parts: the President and the citizens of the country. Voting by the general public is conducted every month to pass legislation though an emergency vote may be issued whenever such is deemed necessary (e.g., declaration of war).

   Since a pure democracy places all of the authoritative powers for governing the nation in the hands of the people, the role of President essentially becomes just a figurehead for the country. With responsibilities of deciding which issues should be placed on the ballot regarding their scheduling purposes, representing the nation during international matters, and assisting with humanitarian concerns.

   Executive orders, war power acts, and veto abilities are removed from the position since they are contrary to transferring authority to the people. Pardons are restricted to only apply when the judicial process was shown to be in error to prevent their possible overuse by the position.

   In a pure democracy, enacting a bill into law resides entirely upon the nation's populace to approve of the measure. Political parties, government officials, and other organizations may propose legislation, but the actual approval of ratifying a bill into law rests solely upon the nation's voters. Proposals may be initiated by the general public as a national referendum if enough signatures are provided for the measure across the country.


   The Cabinet personnel (e.g., Secretary of Commerce, Defense, etc.become advisers to the nation and provide a monthly status report of their activities to the general public. They are responsible for providing information regarding their budgets, project schedules, and tentative plans for future months.

   Since voting on a workday is not ideal, it would be better if the first Saturday of every month became the official day to vote. Also, rather than using paper ballots, it would be more convenient to allow electronic voting through the local cable/satellite service within one's home (which is similar to purchasing a Pay-Per-View event, but in this case, vote on various issues on the electronic ballot).

   The Department of Education will be responsible for presenting the monthly issues in a clear and concise manner for the public to review. By doing so, the topics will be presented at the general education level of the public that won't be swayed by the particular presentation or bias of the news media.
Advantages

   An advantage of a pure democracy is that the accuracy of representing public opinion would be improved since a more direct manner of governing the nation would be provided rather than by the "middle man" (representatives).

   Another advantage of a pure democracy is that it will provide greater impartiality among the issues due to the lack of a representative being coerced by a biased influence of some kind (e.g., a politician's personal opinion, gifts from special interest groups, etc.). By eliminating political corruption in this manner, a pure democracy is inherently more reliable and trustworthy than a representative form of government.

   A pure democracy also eliminates the possibility of "pork" being added by lawmakers to satisfy their own self-interests. Laws become simpler in nature since the proposed legislation will be written with the general public in mind, so bills become less complex and easier to understand with fewer loopholes.

   A pure democracy will also achieve greater cooperation among the political parties when drafting bills. Political organizations will develop their own version of a given proposal for the nation to vote on without the need of compromise, which prevents the possibility of deadlock and government shutdowns.


   Another advantage of a pure democracy is that it may prevent unnecessary war between nations. For example, America's involvement in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq was not reflective of public opinion at the time, and could have been prevented if the entire nation had voted on the matter beforehand. Even a major event such as World War II could have been prevented if the people of Germany had voted on the situation instead of their political leaders.
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