Current Events > Why don't we just use a popular vote on national issues?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Probably a dumb question, but it seems like it would make more sense. Just an example, universal healthcare, restructuring of police, etc etc.

Why cant we just vote? Youve got X time frame to vote on it, and if 51% or more vote for something, the change goes into affect. If you dont vote within the time frame, its just obviously not counted, and assumed that you dont care.

I understand that smaller states need fair representation, but for issues like this, where it would affect everyone in the nation, doesnt it make more sense for each person to have an equally weighted voice?

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The same reason we don't elect a president using a popular vote, because the president's executive authority supercedes that of individual states. And having a large number of people in a few states dictate how the rest of the people in the other states live their (often very different) lives is tyrannical and wrong.

Annihilated posted...

And having a large number of people in a few states dictate how the rest of the people in the other states live their (often very different) lives is tyrannical and wrong.

This is an argument against having a federal government, not an argument for letting a minority of the public elect it.
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What would a national vote on e.g. universal healthcare look like to you?

Who writes the bill, etc.

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Antifar posted...

This is an argument against having a federal government, not an argument for letting a minority of the public elect it.

Not really, because the rest of the federal government has state representation, and the constitution is important to establish a baseline of all the other rights we have. If a majority of representatives agree on an issue, it's more meaningful to the country as a whole than if a majority of the population does.

Because direct democracy isn't good for power structures
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Because Americans are very uneducated as a whole, and the American education system sucks in its own right. You could also think about how the American mentality (individualistic, partisan) would affect this.

This isn't a bad idea in general, but it would not work in America.

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Because national issues are usually intricate af.

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Antifar posted...

This is an argument against having a federal government, not an argument for letting a minority of the public elect it.

...lol.

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MarqueeSeries posted...

Because direct democracy isn't good for power structures

This. Such a system wouldn't allow the rich minority to keep control of the country.

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