Comments on: Ballot Initiatives http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/262 Ian Lance Taylor Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:38:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Ian Lance Taylor http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/262/comment-page-1#comment-15000 Ian Lance Taylor Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:45:14 +0000 http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/262#comment-15000 ppluzhnikov: It's true that I can just follow somebody else's suggestion, but that seems to lead me back to where I started from. rpluim: I don't see how politicians could consistently ignore the will of the people. They have to get a plurality of the vote, and that is normally too much for them to simply buy. I often disagree with what U.S. politicians do, but I can't honestly claim that they disregard what the people who voted for them want them to do. However, I don't know which systems you are speaking of. ppluzhnikov: It’s true that I can just follow somebody else’s suggestion, but that seems to lead me back to where I started from.

rpluim: I don’t see how politicians could consistently ignore the will of the people. They have to get a plurality of the vote, and that is normally too much for them to simply buy. I often disagree with what U.S. politicians do, but I can’t honestly claim that they disregard what the people who voted for them want them to do. However, I don’t know which systems you are speaking of.

]]> By: rpluim http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/262/comment-page-1#comment-14988 rpluim Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:47:09 +0000 http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/262#comment-14988 I'm saddened by statements like "I don’t want to have to research these issues and figure out where I stand". Having suffered the vagaries of various political systems and politicians over the past 20 years ignoring the extremely clear 'will of the people', I personally would welcome the chance to have a more direct influence on decisions that affect me, and I feel that anyone lucky enough to have the opportunity to exercise such influence should take the time to examine the issues. I’m saddened by statements like “I don’t want to have to research these issues and figure out where I stand”. Having suffered the vagaries of various political systems and politicians over the past 20 years ignoring the extremely clear ‘will of the people’, I personally would welcome the chance to have a more direct influence on decisions that affect me, and I feel that anyone lucky enough to have the opportunity to exercise such influence should take the time to examine the issues.

]]> By: ppluzhnikov http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/262/comment-page-1#comment-14986 ppluzhnikov Sat, 25 Oct 2008 03:50:10 +0000 http://www.airs.com/blog/archives/262#comment-14986 I was told that the reason Californians want ballot initiatives is that they don't trust their politicians to make smart decisions. Researching initiatives is surprisingly difficult. Fortunately, you don't have to do it all by yourself. I've been reading Steve Friedl's analysis here: http://www.unixwiz.net/voting/ I don't always agree with him, but I think he does present balanced and well-researched view. I was told that the reason Californians want ballot initiatives is that they don’t trust their politicians to make smart decisions.
Researching initiatives is surprisingly difficult. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it all by yourself. I’ve been reading Steve Friedl’s analysis here: http://www.unixwiz.net/voting/ I don’t always agree with him, but I think he does present balanced and well-researched view.

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