Madam, – I read Donal Casey’s piece of March 6th with great interest, particularly in respect of the “bottom up” democracy of Switzerland. The Swiss, it appears, vote regularly on matters of national importance, once even voting “against a shorter working week, in the interest of their long term competitiveness.”
What a great system! We would actually have to take personal responsibility and be knowledgeable about the major decisions confronting our society. The role of politicians could be diminished to matters of local administration only. The State would be administered by civil servants appropriately qualified for their positions.
Of course, we would need the infrastructure to vote regularly without the enormous apparatus of general elections. Perhaps an electronic voting system of sorts. Now, where could we get our hands on those machines? – Yours, etc,