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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
 
   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 it is deemed necessary (e.g., declaration of war).

   A pure democracy places all of the authoritative powers for governing the nation in the hands of the people. Because of this, the role of the President becomes only a figurehead for the country with the primary responsibilities of scheduling monthly ballots, handling international matters, and assisting with humanitarian concerns.

   Other activities such as executive orders, war powers acts, vetoes, and pardons are all removed from the position since they are contrary to transferring authority to the people. In a pure democracy, the President may propose an idea such as a trade embargo or military engagement, but the position doesn't have the authority to perform the action until the nation votes upon the matter.

   Political parties, government officials, and other organizations may introduce new legislation, however, their approval is solely dependent upon the nation's voters to ratify the bill into law. The general population may also introduce new legislation as well if enough signatures are provided for the measure across the nation.


   The Cabinet personnel (e.g., Secretary of Commerce, Defense, Labor, etc.) become advisers to the nation and will provide a monthly status of their activities to the country. They will be responsible for presenting their budgets, project schedules, and tentative plans for the upcoming months. By communicating directly with the public every month, it will emphasize that their duties and responsibilities are to the nation rather than to the figurehead of the country.

   Since voting on a workday is not ideal for everyone, it would be better if the first weekend of the month became the official day(s) to vote for the nation. In addition, rather than using paper ballots, it may be more convenient to vote electronically through the local cable/satellite service so that the ballot may be conducted at the voter's own residence (through the television/home computer). Which would be similar to purchasing a pay-per-view event at home, but the voter would be making selections on an electronic ballot instead.

   The Department of Education will be responsible for informing the public the various pros/cons of the subject matter every month. By doing so, the topics will be presented in a clear and concise manner and at the educational level of the general population that won't be swayed by the particular presentation or bias of the news media.
Advantages

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

   Another advantage is that greater impartiality of the issues will be achieved 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, a pure democracy is inherently more reliable and trustworthy than a representative form of government.

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

   A pure democracy also allows political parties to be more effective when drafting bills for their perspective. In other words, political groups will be able to draft their particular version of the proposal without the further need to compromise with each other. This will prevent the possibility of deadlock between parties that had caused government shutdowns in the past.

   A pure democracy will also enable voters to become a nationwide "grand jury" to decide the most serious offenses against the country. If the Justice Department is unwilling or unable to pursue charges, voters will have the option to revoke citizenship as an alternative measure (e.g., a government official who committed treason). So, in a pure democracy, there will be additional constitutional powers granted to the public that will include overriding previous laws and legislation, Supreme Court rulings, pardons/acquittals, and, in general, the overall correction of unethical or criminal conduct by personnel.


   On an international level, the greatest advantage of adopting a pure democracy is that it may prevent war between nations. For example, America's involvement in various situations (e.g., Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Iran), or Russia's involvement among others (e.g., Afghanistan, Georgia, Ukraine), was not reflective of public opinion at the time, and such conflicts could have been prevented if the respective nation had voted on the matter beforehand. Even a major event such as World War II that involved many nations could have been prevented if the people of Germany had voted on the situation as a pure democracy.
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