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List of Documents   ::   This Document Number: 002

Components Of A Democratic System

The items listed on this page are some of the important aspects of a political and social system which dictate the quality of the democratic system. Many have been altered dramatically in order to satisfy the Democratic principle: that the system is designed for the benefit of the citizens - not The Establishment - not the politicians. Most of the items listed here will be discussed in greater detail in subsequent documents. This is just an overall view of the components of the Democratic 1.0 system. They are in no particular order.

The Citizen

Each individual citizen is at the heart of Democracy 1.0. It is the citizens who PERMANENTLY own and control not only the political system but also the political authority. In most cases this will be organised collectively. Nevertheless, the only purpose of a democratic political system is for the benefit of the citizens, both individually and collectively.

Citizens in Democracy 1.0 must realise that the political system is NOT a feudal hierarchical political system where control is at the top of the political pyramid. The attitude of the citizens must not continue to be one of fatalistic passiveness, subservience, or in some cases, even fear. Citizens must never put their faith in politicians to solve the Nation's problems. Rather, they must realise that a co-operative and democratic attitude by all citizens guarantees justice, fairness and a positive constructive and productive quality of life for all its citizens, with active participation being an unhindered aspect of the political process.

The State (The Nation)

Constitution 1.0

Thi is a vital aspect to a true democratic political system. The purpose of Constitution 1.0 will to set out principles so each citizen knows what is expected of them and what rights are set out for their own benefit and protection. In some cases this will be very important because the citizens will have more power and authority than in the past, and so controls on the limits of that power and that authority must be clear, otherwise there is the possibility of a type of mob rule, or of unstable governence.

Unfortunately, too many people are under the impression that the majority is the key concept in understanding how a true democrcy should be organised. This is absolutely and totally WRONG. The key concept is the INDIVIDUAL. Naturally, it is the majority who will make the decisions. But it is the Constitution which will protect the individual from the possible misuse of the decision-making powers of the majority. You cannot have a functioning true democracy without first having a true democratic Constitution.

Constitution 1.0 will be much larger than most Constitutions because it should explain things as well and as detailed as is possible. The need for a Supreme Court interpretation hopefully should very rarely be required, and even then, should be only on the basis of citizen understanding and interpretation. Apart from being a legal document (and you should keep in mind that the legal profession are part of the old feudal monopoly system), it is a document explaining, to the citizens, how THEIR Nation is to be organised. Thus, explanations regarding the spirit of the regulations, the purpose and aim of the regulations should be as clear and evident to the greatest degree possible, with examples and explanations of desired effects included within the Constitution 1.0.

Likewise, the language must be as plain as possible with the intention of enabling each and every citizen to understand fully what the Constitution 1.0 sets out to say, on their behalf. No citizen ever considers getting legal advice when voting in a referendum. It must be a Constitution of the people, for the people and by the people. Anything less is totally unacceptable. Thus, it must also be interpreted in such a manner. In other words, to the greatest extent possible, the legal profession (Supreme Court) MUST interpret it according to how ordinary citizens understand it.

It will firstly make sure the citizens are empowered so as to be, in principle and reality, in control of the political system itself. It must also have sufficient regulations enabling the citizens to control, regulate and, above all, to LIMIT the power of the politicians and any other monopolies so that the citizens never become the victims of the political, legal, or financial system. Subsequently it will also require strong regulations and limits to the power of the citizens so as to prevent abuse (mob rule) by the citizens, of that very democratic power which the citizens hold, in order to protect both future generations and also minorities, from transient, temporarily fashionable, possibly long-term destructive decisions being made in the heat of the moment.

The Political System

This will be organised in such a manner that the citizens need never be passive victims of that system but will have a method and process of taking part in the organisation and running of that Nation and its political system and legislation. They will have the ability to control (via The Ombuds) how the political authority is temporarily assigned to the politicians and State bodies.

All aspects of the political system will be controlled so as to be of the benefit of the citizens, for example: how elections are organised and controlled, how politicians are appointed, how budgets are organised, the nature of the organisation of political authority etc.

The Political Authority

The citizens own the political authority in a Democracy 1.0. This authority will be both guaranteed and protected by the Constitution 1.0 to be unalterable by politicians, vested interests, or other monopolies.

The citizens, through representation, can access this authority and use it collectively, to appoint politicians, suggest new legislation and prevent (or overturn) legislation which is to the detriment of the citizens both of today and the future, and to punish politicians and others for any attempts to abuse that authority.

There will be no place for political terms like right-wing, left-wing, neo-liberalism etc for the very reason that these terms were based on a feudal type political system - with its different opposing ‘factions’. Terms like less government and more government will be irrelevant for there will be no monolithic state to be oppressive, and yet there will be plenty of regulations, in fact much more than is the present feudal-democratic systems, but in the case of Democracy 1.0 always with the aim of protecting the citizens from abuse by those with power and influence.

The President

In Nations which have a President as a figurehead or representative of the citizens of the Nation, the President will have special powers to defend (or enforce) the democratic principles and regulations within the Constitution 1.0. There will be other methods of such guarantees for the citizens in a political system where the President has executive powers (though in a Democracy that should not be the case).

The Judiciary

Whereas in the Feudal political system the judiciary were seen and treated as a super elite, in Democracy 1.0 they are servants of the citizens and are employees of the State. Their primary role is to ensure a fair trial for each and every individual. Their secondary role will be to pass sentencing on those individuals found guilty.

The separation of powers will still remain such that the politicians and any other groups or individuals assigned political authority in the State will have NO control over the judiciary unless regulated within the Constitution or special regulations or laws agreed by the citizens. Nevertheless, the judiciary WILL be answerable to the citizens, through methods which will guarantee that the legal system will be democratic and just, but ultimately, will still be controlled by the citizens as a matter of principle.

This will also most definitely include the ability to control the decisions of the Supreme Court. The citizens, via the Constitution 1.0, will be able to overturn decisions made by the Supreme Court, and if necessary even punish members of the Supreme Court.

The Justice System

As with all other organisations and arrangements within the Democratic system, the purpose of the justice system is the protection of the citizen and the political system. The feudal legal attitude of focussing on the legal ‘game playing’ will be prevented and banished to the maximum extent possible, with the in-admissibility of evidence and technicalities based on trivialities reduced to the minimum, and allowed to be used only where they may cause a case of injustice to take place.

The Legal System

The legal system will NOT be a process controlled by an elite legal profession monopoly as in the past. ALL monopolies in Democracy 1.0 will be scrutinised and regulated and their power limited and controlled so that the citizens NEVER become subservient to these monopolies but rather, that these monopolies will be, in effect, groups of individuals who will NOT have the ability to influence the lives and wellbeing of the citizens. The citizens will have a method of controlling the legal and justice system and make it a system for the benefit of the citizens and NOT the elite. The legal system will SERVE the citizens and not the reverse.

Political Parties

This will be so different and revolutionary I will leave the details till the page allocated to this subject is published.

In general, during the previous feudal political system political parties owned the system and gave special consideration to their followers and supporters while making sure the citizens had no control whatsoever. This will be prevented from continuing, to the maximum extent possible, with one and one only inevitable result.

In simple terms: ALL POLITICAL PARTIES WILL BE BANNED.

Temporary Holders Of Political Authority (Politicians)

This will be so different and revolutionary I will leave the details till the page allocated to this subject is published.

In general, politicians will be answerable to the citizens throughout their time in office. They will be regulated and their power and authority will be thoroughly controlled and limited. Their purpose will be as organisers, facilitators and supervisors of the will of the citizens and not rulers of the citizens as was the case previously. Also, and vital - no individual politician will ever have executive powers.

In simple terms: POLITICIANS ARE CIVIL SERVANTS (no more, no less).

Representation

This will be so different and revolutionary I will leave the details till the page allocated to this subject is published.

In general, in the past, representation was at the whim of the politician during the feudal political system days, which had the result of elevating the politician and leaving the citizen in a position of peasant beggar, passively seeking a local politician to take some interest in the troubles of the citizen, whereas in a Democracy 1.0 system, representation IS A RIGHT, organised within the political system of citizen participation in THEIR political system.

In simple terms: REPRESENTATION IS VIA THE OMBUDS (a separate section of the civil service dedicated to facilitating the feedback and input of citizens in participating in the control of regulations etc).

Freedom Of Information

In Democracy 1.0 it is the citizens who decide the level of freedom of information. The secrecy used by the politicians and The Establishment to control the behaviour and thinking of the citizens will be a thing of the past. The citizens OWN (and pay for) the system and political authority and have a right to know everything, except for that information which must be kept secret for the protection of the Nation and the continuance of the Democratic system.

The politicians will not be able to secretly pass legislation or secretly adjust pay and conditions - every piece of legislation and any other processes or decisions will be announced in a predefined manner. All pay levels special working conditions and arrangements in the Public Service will be open and publicised. Nothing will be hidden from the citizens except for pre-agreed matters.

The Budget

In the past feudal systems the budget was abused and misused by the political parties as a means of using Public Funds to gain more seats in the following election and also to benefit their supporters and followers and the ‘boys in the backroom’ rather than the citizens.

Most budgets were random, unstable and in the long run, detrimental to the wellbeing of the citizens. This will change dramatically in Democracy 1.0. It will be designed to be as stable as is possible. The use of Public Funds will be scrutinised thoroughly and any misuse will bring immediate and heavy punishment.

ALL decisions must take the wellbeing of FUTURE citizens into account.

The Financial System

Although Democracy 1.0 will be a Capitalist system which encourages enterprise, financially, it will never be allowed to be controlled by the feudal elite monopolies. It will have a true Capitalist system at its heart (with financial rewards for hard work, creativity, and innovation if they are a success, and financial loss for failure if they are not a success) but which will have sufficient safeguards, in most cases within the Constitution 1.0, to thoroughly protect the citizens from the misuse or abuse of all financial power.

In simple terms - if it is to the detriment of the citizens then specific types of financial (and investment) transactions will not be allowed to continue. In other words the Capitalist system will never be allowed to undermine the Democratic 1.0 system. It will never be allowed to burden the citizen with corporate failure but will encourage investment etc BUT with the underlying controls and safeguards that the financial stability of the Nation and its citizens can NEVER be threatened or destroyed by the financial sector. This will be ruthlessly and extremely controlled and enforced, without limit, by regulations within the Constitution 1.0 (for the most part), and NOT by the politicians.

Monopolies

In a Democratic 1.0 system the only monopoly which will be tolerated at all is that of the citizens collectively - the State. Even then, there will be controls and limits, as already stated, in the Constitution 1.0. All other monopolies will be thoroughly controlled, regulated and their power over the citizens restricted and limited to the greatest extent possible.

In effect ALL monopolies will be seen as potential enemies of the citizens and of the State. This includes, all religious organisations, corporations, financial institutions, unions, politicians, political parties etc.

Protection Of The Citizens and Political System

This will be another revolutionary aspect to Democracy 1.0, to be discussed later.

Also, democratic Nations MUST be able to have the ultimate penalty for the protection of the political system and its citizens - the death penalty. Many may not like the though of it but it is required - plain and simple, though the citizens may decide to alter that later on.

Elections

If ever there was a big lie this is it. The term ‘free and fair elections’ has been so misused that the true explanation of the same term will take more than a few sentences to make it clear. For example, at present in the USA there is no such thing. This will be revolutionary within a Democratic 1.0 system so that there actually will be, for the first time every, a ‘free and fair election’ when necessary, decided by the citizens, not the politicians.

In simple terms: elections will be fairly irrelevant because the governance is BY THE PEOPLE. The politicians will be civil servants, and will be totally unable to ‘promise’ anything.

Accountability And Responsibility

All too often we see politicians walk away from National (financial, social, etc) destruction, through incompetence, greed or criminality, and retire with large pensions. Those appointed by politicians to public bodies, swindle and abuse the system and walk away without answering for their behaviour. In a Democracy 1.0, accountability will be enshrined within the system to the greatest extent possible. It will definitely start at the top but will effect each and every individual person within the Nation, with some harsh punishments for those involved in diminishing the wellbeing of the citizens, or threatening the stability of the Nation or political system.

But it is important to understand that each and every citizen will be responsible for their own actions and behaviour. Although acountability will start at the top it will be universal and encompass the behaviour of every individual within the Nation. Each citizen will be responsible for their own actions. As I've already stated, in a Democracy 1.0 citizens partake in the political process - they don't take from the process.

... page to be continued (possibly)

Lou Gogan

February 2013