FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

With Senator Mike Gravel about the

DIRECT DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE

Sponsored by

PHILADELPHIA II

Last edited March 13, 2000

1) Q. What is the Direct Democracy Initiative (DDI)?

A. The Direct Democracy Initiative is a measure empowering citizens to initiate and enact laws in every governmental jurisdiction of the United States with procedures that promote deliberation and debate. Currently the DDI is presented as a law, it could be put forth as a constitutional amendment. The text is in draft form. We hope it will be improved upon as we receive thoughtful suggestions from supporters.

2) Q. What is Direct Democracy (DD)?

A. Direct democracy is a form of political action in society in which people directly engage in the central act of self-governance – lawmaking and establishing policies – outside the control of elected representatives. The people act as a legislative body enacting laws, in a parallel capacity to the legislative bodies of their respective jurisdictions, and establishing social and economic policies that are implemented by their respective governments.

3) Q. What is Philadelphia II (P-2)?

A. Philadelphia II, the prime sponsor of DDI, is a nonprofit 501 (c) (4) organization. Philadelphia II has a sister 501 (c) (3) corporation named “Initiative Democracy” whose mission is to inform and educate people about Direct Democracy. 501 (c) (3) and the 501 (c) (4) are IRS designations for non-profit public service corporations. Donations to a (c) (3) corporation are deductible from the donor’s income tax. Donations to a (c) (4) corporation are not deductible; however, income to a (c) (4) is not taxable.

We solicit your support and participation. You may join Philadelphia II (Link to membership application) and you may make a tax-deductible contribution to “Initiative Democracy.” (Link to donation form with Working Assets and/or Create Hope) In doing so you can personally help to bring about Direct Democracy.

4) Q. How does Direct Democracy relate to Initiative & Referendum (I&R)?

A. There is a direct and historic tie in that we would not be able to advance direct democracy today had it not been for the seminal accomplishments of the Populist and Progressive movements in enacting Initiative, Referendum, and Recall (IRR) laws at the turn of the 20^th century. As a result, we now have one hundred years of experience of people legislating in twenty-four states.(Check maybe 26) The I&R Institute of Washington (Link to HTTP://iandrinstitute.com/irsearch.htm) has ably documented the people’s legislative record showing that the people have legislated as well or better than their representatives in state legislatures. This record shatters the myth, propounded by elites to maintain their control, that the people cannot be trusted to make laws.

5) Q. Why not work to improve I&R laws and get them enacted in more states?

A. Certainly, we should try but the record is dismal. When most IRR laws were enacted entrenched elites still held power and reformers were forced to compromise to enact them. Ever since, legislatures have made qualifying regulations more difficult for the people and courts have routinely denied citizens the right to vote on initiatives dealing with legitimate legislative subjects. (Link to legal page and specifically to the Gravel v Gregoire case) In effect, reformers, in and out of government, though trying to expand I&R have really been fighting a rearguard action continually losing ground to the controlling elites of representative governments. Yet, the people, though they have the right, with or without I&R laws, have not been able to appreciably expand I&R laws at the state level, much less at the federal level. (Link to state history and the record of Congress) For that matter, even after the publication of government and private funded studies showing the need for improvement and offering specific recommendations, reformers have not been able to effect even minimal improvements to I&R laws, such as setting up legislative and deliberative procedures similar to those that exist in all legislative bodies.

6) Q. Why are people so powerless to reform I&R laws?

A. Confusion. Great confusion exists over the meanings of initiative, referendum, and direct democracy. Government jurisdictions operate their I&R laws differently. This confusion makes it easier for elites to maintain the status quo. We can begin to dispel this confusion by defining these terms more accurately and clarify the rhetoric that defines the issues. For this reason Initiative Democracy, the sister organization to Philadelphia II, seeks to educate people about the shortcomings of I&R laws and offers DDI as a solution whose enactment relies on the people rather than their representatives. Let me try to define referendum and initiative; direct democracy is defined in question 2 above
Referendum is the most confusing. To many it means anything the people vote on. (Link to Swiss history) Observing its practices helps clarify its meaning. A referendum is a legislative device that permits legislatures to enact measures that are referred to the people for a final vote. People have no say in the referendum process; it is entirely controlled by representatives prior to the final vote.
Initiative is the least known. An initiative is a legislative device that permits people to initiate and qualify a measure that is presented to the people for a vote. Unfortunately, the rules and procedures to qualify an initiative are under the control of representatives and judges. Confusion naturally occurs since the main device of direct democracy is the initiative and people therefore assume that direct democracy is the same as I&R. The distinction must be made between the initiative device of I&R that is controlled by governments and the initiative device of direct democracy that is controlled by the people outside the control of and is superior to governments.

7) Q. How does political participation called for by so many fit into these concepts?

A. Participation is a necessary act to citizenship, a role played by individuals in the governance of society. Obviously, it is vital to the political operation of direct democracy and representative democracy. However, we must realize that in representative democracy, it means listening to politicians, pundits, and experts, and then casting an occasional vote. More active participants get involved in campaigns. Either way, the citizen’s primary role is helping to select someone as his or her representative that strengthens the power of representative democracy. Direct democracy suggests a more mature participatory role where citizens inform themselves on issues and policy questions and vote directly on their enactment or rejection, rather than relying on intermediaries who may be corrupted by special interests.

8) Q. Do you believe that Congress and state legislatures would enact the DDI?

A. No. The conflict between direct democracy and representative democracy revolves around the nature of power. The Constitution, considering the nation’s needs and the political structure at the time, delegated the exercise of the people’s political power to elected representatives. Bear in mind that our Framers were the elites of their day. And remember that the Revolutionary War was fought over home rule, not who would rule at home. After we vote for our representatives, every few years, we are left to plead with them to address our interests. Our present governmental structure cynically leads representatives to view their constituents as beggars – mendicants in a mendicant democracy. Power is a corrupting and intoxicating agent affecting all human beings. As a result, representatives have never realized the idealized role – the best and the brightest rising above special interests and partisanship – depicted by James Madison. Representatives address primarily their personal interests and the interests of their major financial contributors whom they depend on to secure and hold power. There is no realistic hope that representatives will voluntarily dilute their power and empower the people with true direct democracy. (Link to history page then to Congress)

9) Q. Then, how can you hope to enact the DDI?

“Article. VII. The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.”

State conventions were called with delegates specially elected by the people for ratification purposes only. The technology of the day did not permit assembling the people any other way. The DDI has a similar but better and more direct self-enacting clause; made possible by modern communications technology:

Section 7. Enactment of the Direct Democracy Initiative.

This Direct Democracy Initiative measure shall be presented to the United States electorate by direct contact, print media, mail, and/or the Internet, and executed on the ballot form in Section 6. When the number of ballots executed by registered voters and received by Philadelphia II is greater than fifty percent of the total number of ballots cast in the last presidential election, just prior to certification by the President of Philadelphia II to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, this Act shall become a federal law and take effect upon the date of certification. Should this Direct Democracy Initiative fail to receive a sufficient number of ballots to qualify it for enactment within seven years of the date Philadelphia II commences formal balloting, this balloting process is terminated. (under review)

The use of essentially the same self-enactment process for the Direct Democracy Initiative as that used for the self-enactment of the Philadelphia-drafted Constitution is the reason we call the sponsoring organization Philadelphia II.

10) Q. What happens after the DDI is enacted by the people?

A. Once the self-enacting clause, Section 7 of the DDI, is satisfied, the President of Philadelphia II will certify the DDI as law. At that point the Congress can either accept or reject the will of the people, which will have been expressed in an election process as fair and sound as any conducted by government. Rejection would trigger a “constitutional moment” (a crisis) the results of which are difficult to predict.

11) Q. Is the proposed enactment of the DDI constitutional?

A. Yes. Recognizing that governments can be oppressive, the Framers wrote into the Constitution strict limits on the powers of our government, and made it difficult for our representatives to undo those limitations. Although the Constitution does not address or provide procedures for the people to exercise their right to amend it or act in any legislative capacity, the Constitution itself was enacted by the people exercising a power that James Madison characterized as “First Principles.” (Link to History page, then to Philadelphia convention – Madison dialogue with delegate from Maryland) It is probable that the Framers considered it unnecessary to write such procedures into the Constitution, expecting that when it becomes necessary to again invoke “First Principles,” the people would devise procedures appropriate to current conditions – as we are doing in the DDI.

12) Q. But, isn’t all federal legislative power granted to the Congress?

A. No, just the legislative power granted within the venue of the three divisions of government. The Constitution is precise in this regard:

“Article. I. Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress…”

“Herein granted” speaks to legislative power granted to Congress but not granted to the Executive or the Judiciary, who are granted other powers under the Constitution that are not granted to the Congress. The Constitution does not address the lawmaking powers of the people. Those powers are self-evident. Obviously, if the people can create, change, or dissolve the government as stated in the Declaration of Independence, they implicitly have the right to engage in any legislative capacity within or beyond the government framework established by the Constitution. This inherent right and power of the people, their inborn right to use “First Principles,” (Link to History page then to Madison’s speech for the introduction of the Bill of Rights) was addressed by the Framers in the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution:

“Amendment IX. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

13) Q. What will the Supreme Court do when the people enact the Direct Democracy Initiative?

A. Assuming that someone will sue over the people’s right to enact the DDI law, (a likely occurrence), the issue will quickly go the Supreme Court. A “constitutional moment” then arises: who is sovereign (the boss) in the United States, the people or the government? We think the Court will rule that the matter is a political one, outside of their jurisdiction. The following cases strongly point in that direction:

Luther v Borden, 7 How. 1 (1849)
Pacific States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Oregon 223 U.S. 118 (1912)
U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Hill 514 U.S. 779 (1995)

The Court, in treating the basis of these cases as legal enactments, acknowledges the people’s right to create a government and the people’s right to routinely enact laws by initiative. The only issue the Court could possibly entertain would be how Philadelphia II conducted the enacting election. For that reason the DDI’s enacting and verification processes must be equal to or superior to that employed by existing governments.

14) Q. What will Congress do?

A. Congress is where the political question that the Court will refuse to take up will come to a head. Congress might refuse to appropriate the monies for the operations of the Electoral Trust created in the DDI (see Section 5.). If Congress refuses to appropriate the funds, it will be breaking a law enacted by the people. In effect, Congress would be declaring itself superior to the will of the American people. Philadelphia II could then sue the Congress to make the appropriation, which would take us to the Court and a constitutional moment.

15) Q. How can Congress be forced to accept the DDI?

A. DDI’s national campaign will be an educational and deliberative process. People will become aware of the empowerment issue. Polls already show that people have an overwhelming desire to empower themselves and an overwhelming dissatisfaction with the politics of representative government, one reason why more than 50% of the people don’t vote. The people will be excited by the prospect of truly reforming the governing process rather than just chipping away at the margins. Accordingly, the DDI campaign will force the issue in each congressional district as we ask politicians, who frequently claim to want to empower the people, during their campaigns for election or re-election, to support the DDI and to commit to appropriate the funds to the Electoral Trust. If they refuse, their hypocrisy will be made a campaign issue. We see the dynamics of the political campaign to enact the DDI working affirmatively on representatives; eliciting from them commitments to implement the people’s will when and if it is expressed in the enactment of the DDI.

16) Q. How long will it take to enact the DDI?

A. The amount of time needed to enact the DDI depends on resources. Two stages are involved: the drafting and preparation period and the actual election. Both stages are predicated on the use of the Internet, which makes the cost and timely conduct of the initiative election manageable. The first stage could be completed in one year with $1 million to $2 million. The election stage could take one to two election cycles, 2 to 4 years, and cost $20 million to $40 million. Without the appropriate resources – a permanent staff, and sufficient advertising to gain visibility – the timing would be anyone’s guess.

17) Q. Will the DDI be enacted as a law or a constitutional amendment?

A. This is an important question concerning campaign strategy that will be decided upon after more people focus on it. This and numerous other issues (including Internet voting procedures) will be decided upon by those supporting Philadelphia II and the Direct Democracy Initiative.

18) Q. Does the DDI change our representative government’s structure?

A. No! The DDI creates something new – a “Legislature of the People” – by permitting people to legislate directly, a role that does not exist at the national level and in half the states. The DDI does not change representative governments – it seeks to bring the people into a legislating partnership with their representatives in all government jurisdictions. This partnership might induce our representatives to focus more on their oversight functions of the day-to-day operation of governments, leaving to the people to decide on the vexatious policy issues that polarize legislatures.

19) Q. Who’s behind Philadelphia II? Who’s funding it?

A. Mike Gravel. Based on my lifelong experiences as a student of political science and history, and as an elected official for sixteen years, including two terms in the U.S. Senate (1969-81), I drafted legislative procedures, similar to those existing in legislative bodies. Out of the recent history of trying to enact these legislative procedures under existing I&R laws in three states and frustrated by the legal barriers (Link to Gravel v Gregoire case) raised by representatives, I developed a self-enactment process relying on “First Principles.” A process similar to which enacted our Constitution. (See Question 9) The present DDI draft encompasses both: the legislative procedures and the self-enacting device. Along with friends, I founded Initiative Democracy and Philadelphia II to educate people to the potential of direct democracy and to sponsor the enactment of the DDI. Members of the Boards of Directors of the two organizations came from several walks of life, but none have been lawyers, politicians, or executives of large corporations; and none are wealthy, but they with numerous contributions from the general public have funded our operations since our incorporation in 1992. Some supporters have made loans to the cause. As our new presence on the Internet increases interest in our activities, we hope to appeal to a broader public and secure a membership whose dues will fund a permanent staff and a visibility campaign. And, like everyone else, we’re looking for an angel.

20) Q. Is the Direct Democracy Initiative involved in partisan politics?

A. No. The DDI is designed to empower people. With their new power, people will address issues from all areas of the ideological spectrum. We do not wish to connect Philadelphia II, Initiative Democracy, or the Direct Democracy Initiative with any social or political agenda. Partisanship would detract from achieving direct democracy. This does not mean that Philadelphia II members and supporters have no personal ideological agendas. To the contrary, our supporters have very long agendas. However, the experience of working to secure those agendas has persuaded our supporters that the realization of the improvements they seek for society can be better secured by direct democracy than by representative democracy alone. Therefore, we do not wish to alienate anyone. We have only one criterion, and it’s self-enacting at that––faith in people.

21) Q. What about all the abuses that occur under existing Initiatives?

A. Critics of direct democracy worry about special interest money, bribery, manipulation, false advertising, fraud, dirty tricks, bigotry, racism, and majorities oppressing minorities. In fact these problems afflict representative democracy, whereas true direct democracy has not been attempted. Nevertheless, these abuses threaten any structure of governance and the DDI addresses them in Section 4, particularly in Subsections K to O. The DDI does not and will not alter human nature. But history has shown that with better democratic structures people act from the better side of their nature.

22) Q. What do you think will be the most important benefit from direct democracy?

A. By acting directly as legislators, people will be forced to bear responsibility for their actions rather than blame public policy failures on representatives. Taking responsibility is how human beings mature. The Direct Democracy Initiative will have a maturing effect on the collective polity as well as on individual citizens. Bringing about more mature citizens means our society will be better governed.”

23) Q. What can I do to help Philadelphia II enact the Direct Democracy Initiative?

A. You can resolve to:

One – Join Philadelphia II as a dues paying member. (Link to membership page)

Two – Get your fiends to join.

Three – Set up or participate in a discussion groups to research, discuss, argue, and deliberate on the text of the DDI, and the philosophical, political and historic issues behind it. We will be able to supply you with lots of references and other materials.

Four – Make constructive recommendations with respect to the DDI text and the campaign strategy and tactics.

Five – Develop anecdotal stories, articles and papers, and get them published wherever you can; sending us copies for posting on the Philadelphia II web site.

Six – Set up a team to address the media and their lack of coverage and to ask elected officials to sign letters of commitment to the DDI. Keep track of those who refuse.

Seven – Make sure you have an email address and stay in touch.

Eight – Help organize P-2 speakers bureaus in each state to organize events and groups help with events and verifications.

Nine – If you belong to a local or national organization interested in political, social, economic and environmental issues, get them to officially endorse the DDI. The resulting national or local press release will help raise our visibility.

Ten – Help us find the talent we need to build a staff to cope with our emerging visibility and campaign effectively on the Internet.

Eleven – If you can influence “cause money” available from foundations, etc help us gain their support.

And especially,

Twelve – CONTRIBUTE. (Link to contribution page)

Thank you in advance. (Additionally, item should be linked to pages as they develop)

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