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Charlie Hardy on Government Reform |
From the time I was old enough to vote, I voted in every election. That is REPRESENTATIVE democracy. What we have in Venezuela is PARTICIPATORY democracy.
I had always had the idea that democracy meant that we had the right to elect our representatives but that, once they had been elected, you had to live with them until the next election.
Participatory democracy means that citizens, in addition to having the right to hold their elected officials accountable throughout their tenure, also have the right to be involved in the governing process.
And, although it might be considered political heresy or blasphemy to some in the US, as nations revise and develop new constitutions I wonder if the time has not come for the US to do the same.