note: i know i’ve mentioned this before, but here’s a nice FYI from Our Lady Democracy RE: the NIfD.
THE NATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR DEMOCRACY – HEARD OF IT?
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What is the National Initiative?
Not everyone is aware of the existence of the National Initiative for Democracy, which is an elaborate plan to institute a system of direct democracy in the U.S.A. It would be enacted in the form of a constitutional amendment made binding by a popular vote in which the majority of the nationwide electorate approves it. This bold and visionary plan to create a balance of power betweeen the people and the existing branches of government is largely the work of former senator and current presidential candidate Mike Gravel. Read the following article and follow the links to learn more about it. You can also register your vote right now for the National Initiative. When 50 million have done so, it becomes the law! Find out how. -Editor
AMERICA DOES NOT HAVE A GOVERNMENT “BY THE PEOPLE”
(Source:http://www.ni4d.org/learnmore.htm)
The United States of America is not, in fact, a democracy. In a democracy, the people are the government. Today, we elect people to run the government for us. The people we elect do not, for the most part, run the country in the interest of the people, they run it in the interest of themselves. We are led to believe that we must put our trust in these people. We, the people, do not have the power to create laws in our interest. This leads to an extreme imbalance of power in the government versus the people.
To solve these problems and create a true balance of power, The Democracy Foundation has created a plan named the National Initiative for Democracy.
The powerful elites who control our government will self-servingly argue that the People are not qualified or do not know enough to be trusted to make laws. To counter those opposed to empowering the People, one needs only look to the record of the last 100 years in the 24 states where the People make laws by initiative. In those states the People have legislated responsibly, and many times more so than their elected representatives. Civil service, campaign finance reform, and women’s right to vote are but a few examples of the progressive legislation initiated by the People.
The experience of Switzerland is even more instructive. Switzerland, a poor, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, hardscrabble country without natural resources, decided, 140 years ago, to adopt a constitution that brought the People into the operation of government as lawmakers. Even the acclaimed Alexis de Tocqueville had serious doubts that this Swiss experiment in direct democracy would work. The result is without precedent in human history; Switzerland has evolved into the most successfully governed and wealthiest nation in the world.
The National Initiative has been developed and refined over the past decade by former Senator Mike Gravel (D. Alaska, 1969 – 1981) and his colleagues. The Democracy Foundation, a nonprofit 501 c 3 organization, is sponsoring the National Initiative. Philadelphia II, a separate nonprofit organization, is conducting an election on National Initiative at votep2.us, giving the people the opportunity to vote for and enact the National Initiative into law. Both are organizations are led by Senator Gravel.
The National Initiative is a legislative proposal that includes an amendment to the Constitution, the Democracy Amendment and a proposed federal statute, the Democracy Act. The Amendment 1) asserts the constituent sovereignty of the People to make laws, 2) outlaws monies in initiative elections not from natural persons, and 3) legalizes the self-enactment process of the Philadelphia II election.
The Act establishes deliberative legislative procedures for the People and creates an administrative agency (the Electoral Trust) to implement those procedures on behalf of the People, independent of representative governments.
With the National Initiative’s enactment, the American People will experience the responsibility of legislating and governing themselves directly, the benefits of which will bring about greater civic maturity. The National Initiative does not alter the existing structure of representative governments; however, it does add an additional check, the People, to our system of Checks and Balances. Bringing the People into the legislative operations of government sets up a working partnership with the People and their elected legislative representatives.
With the National Initiative’s enactment, the American People will experience the responsibility of legislating and governing themselves directly, the benefits of which will bring about greater civic maturity. The National Initiative does not alter the existing structure of representative governments; however, it does add an additional check, the People, to our system of Checks and Balances. Bringing the People into the legislative operations of government sets up a working partnership with the People and their elected legislative representatives.
The election by Philadelphia II at votep2.us overcomes the monopoly of representative government over the people and the failure of Congress to share its lawmaking powers with the People, who are already experienced as lawmakers in 24 states where they make laws by initiative, and everywhere, whenever people vote on bond issues.
The Philadelphia II election began on September 17, 2002 allowing people to the use of the Internet to vote on the National Initiative. The successful use of this ubiquitous technology now depends on supporters networking their friends, relatives, colleagues and organizations informing them that they can enact the National Initiative into law without the government by voting at: votep2.us
The ideological foundation of the National Initiative rests on the belief that the constituent power of the People is sovereign and the American People can govern themselves as they see fit in pursuit of their happiness and the general welfare. George Washington put it best: The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.
You can best equip yourself to help network your friends by investigating the subjects below and following their links (which are repeated in the left margin of the following pages) to learn more about:
The National Initiative For Democracy: A description of the National Initiative
The Democracy Amendment: Full text of the proposed amendment to the United States Constitution.
The Democracy Act: Full text of the proposed federal statute establishing procedures for the Legislature of the People.
Parrish Report: A more easily readable description of the National Initiative
Rationale: Why we need the National Initiative.
First Principles: The philosophical foundation of the National Initiative.
Partnership In Democracy: How the Legislature of the People, working in partnership with our elected legislators, overcomes the flaws of a purely representative democracy while retaining its benefits.
Constitutionality: The legal foundation of the National Initiative.
Action Plan: The plan of action to enact the National Initiative
