Citizen's initiative referendum
Ideas
- The Citizens' Initiative Referendum can never be implemented in our current society.
- In Software Democracy, the RIC is permanently available to citizens.
- Software Democracy deploys all possible forms of RIC.
- The RIC is written into the Code of the Software Democracy, making it incorruptible and indisputable.
The Citizens' Initiative Referendum
The Citizens' Initiative Referendum is impossible to integrate into the current political landscape, as it threatens the functioning of our institutions. We have seen how international organizations gradually strip states of their sovereignty; the Citizens' Initiative Referendum is already powerless against these.
Take, for example, the European joke of the ECI (European Citizens' Initiative), where after an administrative obstacle course, the citizens behind the initiative are invited to Parliament... Only for the Commission to ultimately decide what to do with the proposal!
The true Citizens' Initiative Referendum is a basic mechanism of Software Democracy. It allows citizens to initiate a vote that nothing can prevent because it is written into the Code.
It is not about occasionally launching an exceptional referendum, but about exercising power daily through various types of initiatives:
- Legislative Citizens' Initiative Referendum: proposal or amendment of a law.
- Repealing Citizens' Initiative Referendum: repeal of an existing law.
- Constitutional Citizens' Initiative Referendum: amendment of the Constitution.
- Revoking Citizens' Initiative Referendum: revocation of a representative. Other types of RIC are possible depending on the circumstances.
These Citizens' Initiative Referendums (with the exception of the constitutional one) can be applied at all levels of power, from the local to the international level.
The Citizens' Initiative Referendum allows not only the direct contribution of citizens to legislation, but above all, it enables them to exercise absolute counter-power. In Software Democracy, citizens always have the last word!
The Citizens' Initiative Referendum is defined in the Constitution and transcribed into The Code of digital democracy:
- A platform hosts well-argued proposals and allows public debate, as well as proposals for drafting or amendments. It collects initial support without a time limit.
- From a first level of support defined in the Constitution (0.1% of citizens, for example), the effective support collection period is activated. During this period set by the Constitution, at least 1% of citizens must support the proposal (or any other threshold).
- This support can manifest in two ways:
- Either the proposal is supported to be presented as-is for voting.
- Or the proposal is supported to be subject to a Study Commission, which will be responsible for analyzing the subject and making a proposal.
- At the end of the period, if the quota is reached, the chosen legislative process is automatically triggered.
Thus, no third-party authority or representative can prevent or interrupt a Citizens' Initiative Referendum. The Code Open Source, digital identity and the blockchain make it possible to implement the Citizens' Initiative Referendum in an indisputable, incorruptible, and transparent manner. Digital tools are thus put at the service of Democracy.