Direct democracy consists of using the totality of the political and institutional means through which the citizens participate to the government of their country.
In a democratic system, the people is the element on which the whole system is built. It is therefore logical and legitimate that the political life of democratic countries, articulates itself around the people, its satisfaction, its safety, prosperity and well-being.
All countries which are members of the European Union, live in a system of representative democracy. It means that the national sovereignty is shared between the people and their elected representatives.
Nonetheless, without adequate means to control of the elected representatives, a representative democracy may drift towards an oligarchy, in which a small minority of politicians maitains itself in power and legislates without taking the public opinion into consideration.
Throughout the European Union, the continent nations are driven by a handful of elected representatives in the direction of establishing a centralized federal European state, governed by technocrats. Though this project is largely refused by the citizens of Europe, the drifting of the democratic systems leads to a monopoly of political life, by the promoters of a federal Europe.
The alignment of the dominant political parties and of a large majority of the media confiscates any form of public debate. Without public debate, the voice of the peple cannot be heard. The result of all this is that national elections take place, knwing the the policies are already decided. Another consequence is the absence of representation of the ideas and opinions of the voters. Finally, extreme opinions, confict and resentment between European nations are growing non-stop.
Confronted to this alliance between the government parties and the financial structures that detain the large media, the peoples can only count on themselves to promote their own interests. It is the reason why it is necessary to reintroduce the constituting elements of direct democracy at the heart of the representative institutions.
The referendum, the popular initiative, the democratic control tools needed to stop misuses, privileges, wasting by elites which are relentlessly asking for more sacrifice without ever applying them to themselves: these are a few means of common sense which would enable the politicians and the citizens to walk together in the same direction.
The political institutions of representative democracy are indispensable to the government of a nation. But the popular consultation and its satisfaction are indispensable to the very existence of a democratic state.
It is in order to warn against the drifts of representative democracy, but also to familiarize and promote the tools of direct democracy that the ADDE was founded. Our analysis and solutions aim at preparing the great political alternation in European democracies in the XXIst century.