We always upgrade to the new and improved version of everything. Shouldn't the European Union be an upgrade to democracy as well? Find out why strengthening the power of referendum through Direct Democracy is the next step.
This Anti-Lisbon Strategy – Is not an Anti-Europe strategy.
This strategy is about who controls the Irish referendum agenda; the government or the people.
When the government or the majority party in parliament controls the agenda, they just schedule other referendums until the people vote the way they want, and “then and only then” is it a binding outcome. People complain that “this is not democratic”, it is, because through the constitution “we the sovereign people of Ireland” give them the power to do so. No signatures need to be gathered, the parliament just votes to schedule another one. This is called a Plebiscite. Ireland has a Plebiscite. In a Plebiscite, usually the ruler or the head of government decides when and on what issue(s) the people shall be consulted. The aim is not to implement democracy, but to provide legitimacy for the decisions of those in power.
When the people control the agenda, then the outcome of the vote is binding, “NO means NO and YES means YES”. When the people control the agenda, the people need to gather enough signatures to have a referendum on “whatever issue, whenever they want”. In this definition of democracy, only the constitution or the people can cause referendum to happen, not the government. Let’s be clear, the government has NO POWER to schedule a referendum, only the people by gathering signatures or the constitution does. This is called “Direct Democracy”.
Irish referendums are triggered by the constitution and controlled by the parliament. To change this, we need to change the Irish constitution. If the EU can change our constitution from the top down, then “we the sovereign people of Ireland” can certainly change it from the bottom up. If the Irish government does not respect the will of the Irish people and schedules another Lisbon referendum, Lisbon 2, then we should take that power away and give the right to cause referendum back to the sovereign Irish people. This would strengthen the sovereign power of the people. Then “Irish referendums could only be triggered by the constitution or by the people, not the government”.
Can we do this?
This is the perfect time to do it. I think the Irish people will be angry if the government schedules another Lisbon referendum (Lisbon 2). We can focus the resulting “anger and outrage” to push the idea of a constitutional referendum change through. We can change the bumper sticker debate of “What’s Good for Ireland, Is Good for Europe” or the guilt trip of “We owe the EU, so don’t ask any questions, just vote Yes” into a more focused debate about the fact that this is really a referendum on the future of democracy. If we succeed in changing the constitution, then second referendum votes will be a thing of the past.
What are the bigger picture implications of this strategy for a United Europe?
The short answer is that if Ireland makes this constitutional change, then Ireland can truly lead the way to a more democratic Europe.
Here’s why.
The beauty of direct democracy is that the people can let their leaders legislate with the comfort of knowing that they can step in at any time, create a referendum, and change or “throw out” new or old laws when they begin to affect their lives in a negative way. Also, politicians will not craft unpopular laws when they know the people can step in and throw them out. That creates a much healthier balance of power.
This means that the sovereign Irish people can allow the EU to continue unifying and step in with “line item referendum veto” on future EU laws or competencies that do not serve us. You will not need to understand all the intricacies of each treaty, hardly anyone does, however, you will know that you have the ability to change what it is to live with its result.
My intuition is that if we in Ireland can accomplish this, then
- Ireland succeeded in strengthening and preserving the Sovereignty of its people
- Can allow the EU to continue unifying with the comfort of knowing that it has the ability to “push back” on EU and National laws that have an adverse affect on their daily lives.
- Ireland will “lead the way” in creating the possibility for all democracies in Europe to have the same power
- Will as a result weaken the EU” super state” goal, with the government controlling the referendum agenda we are still on a path to a super state
- Will as a result create the outcome of a federated Europe with autonomous direct democracies
- Will as a result make our national and EU politicians more accountable, they won’t push things through if they know we can step in and throw them out
- Will most likely strengthen the idea of European wide referendums
- Will most likely increase citizen participation in local, national and EU politics
- Will create the opening for Europe to lead the people of the world on how millions of people from many cultures can live together in a more democratic way.
Switzerland has had “direct democracy”, for more than 150 years. Switzerland is a federation of 26 autonomous cantons or provinces (the EU has 27 countries) and are considered the most advanced democracy on the planet. (see link below) They have "direct democracy" on every level of government; local, regional and national. To the Swiss it’s all about preserving and expanding the citizen’s sovereign power of referendum. They will never give up their right to referendum.
To learn more about direct democracy:
http:/www.swissworld.org/dvd_rom/direct_democracy_2005/index.html
My blog: http://european-citizens-initiative.blogspot.com/
