news & some history

 

contents – on this page

•  news _▼
•  eight years before '21 _▼
•  almost a decade before that _▼

 

news

–vjr– current & ongoing

Workshop in German 'dPdD – Direkte Beteiligung / Partizipation in direkter Demokratie' ('dPdD – Direct Participation in Direct Democracy'), within a zoom meeting of Mehr Demokratie (More Democracy, a German NGO) with Ralf-Uwe Beck, Feb '24 → PDF slides (de)
–vjr– Jan '24

'p:d – What's now, what's next' – team talks, this time on how to better listen to and talk, communicate with people in societies where direct, or any, participation is limited, even restricted, to close circles, groups (like partnerships, modern teams of peers, a.o. in research and development, some associations).

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'p:d' – short for 'participation.direct'
–vjr– Nov '23

Talks, talks, talks – thruout EUrope. Ideas, voices flowing into the concept, working thru to the substance, on the way to more and more common understanding of 'shaping things in common together' / (de) 'Gemeinsames gemeinsam gestalten'.
–vjr– Oct '22

Finishing the 1st run (to review by peers), in German 'Beteiligt euch! ein Vademecum für Menschen' / in English 'Participate! a vademecum for people', so people may asses how far their participation already is (or not yet:) and have a look into what's next to develop it further, or how, where, with whom to begin.
–vjr– Feb '22

After a break back to work on 'Developing participation as competent, constructive, cooperative, direct – in politics part of direct democracy' / (de) 'Partizipation/Beteiligung entwicklen, als kompetent, konstruktiv, kooperativ, direkt – in der Politik Teil direkter Demokratie'.
–vjr– Jan '22

Talks about founding a working group at mehr-demokratie.de (MD) / (de) Arbeitskreis 'direkte Partizipation – Teil direkter Demokratie' [AK dPdD], mögliche Gründung in Gesprächen bei mehr-demokratie.de (MD)

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(de) MD Arbeitskreise → mehr-demokratie.de/ueber-uns/organisation/arbeitskreise...
'dPdD' – short for 'direct Participation in direct Democracy' / (de) 'direkte Partizipation in direkter Demokratie'
–vjr– May '21

Talks with peers @ eth.ch, we may follow the idea of 'Participative systems' further. Includes supporting the people developing direct participation in direct democracy from the applied science part.

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'Participative systems' – short for 'Direct, competent, constructive, cooperative, participative systems' / (de) 'Direkte, kompetente, konstruktive, kooperative, partizipative Systeme'
–vjr– May '21

Working on the concept, building up the team. Website participation.direct in construction. Ask for the concept draft, ask to join in :)
–vjr– May '21

 

eight years before '21

March '13 – Very first presentation of 'Direct participation, part of direct democracy – processes, relations, quality' / (de) 'Direkte Beteiligung / Partizipation, Teil direkter Demokratie – Prozesse, Zusammenhänge, Qualität' in a meeting of the working group 'Citizens' participation' / (de) Arbeitskreis 'Bürgerbeteiligung' of mehr-demokratie.de

–vjr– Mar '13

 

almost a decade before that

ECC+C ↗︎ European Citizens’ Convention and Constitution ↗︎

Free Europeans, don’t leave yourselves alone!

EU Convention should be made permanent and together with the EU Constitution put under citizens’ sovereignty

Once upon a time, as I grew up in Switzerland (Europe), my second home, I too began to participate in approving of changes to our Federal Constitution. Nothing extraordinary, one of the most natural, almost everyday – perhaps slightly boring – things. One of our political rights as citizens. Initiating amendments to the Federal Constitution is another one of these our political rights, each of us, the Swiss, naturally has.

We, the citizens, are called the Sovereign – as written in our Constitution – and so must approve of every such amendment. If we wish, we initiate changes to our Constitution – to put things into it as we see them, as we please to see them. Our representatives’ task is to make these our wishes, when accepted by the majority of voters in one of the federal referendums, into working laws. Of course, they may propose their amendments, which we, the citizens, approve – or not, as we wish.

As all this keeps on going since some generations, our Constitution became a patchwork. A patchwork which I like, as all living things, that by their nature are like that – living, chaotic, and everyone’s thing. On the contrary tombstones, intended to be firm, don’t live, they just dissipate, their intended firmness becoming an illusion.

Yet other, more educated, people, our representatives, politicians, and lawyers, did not like this chaotic patchwork of bumpery text and made a revised version of it. So far four times since 1848. To be elegant, and to be read smoothly. Discussed widely by interested public, and in both chambers of the Federal Parliament. Naturally, we the simple citizens had the last say in the revision, approved it in one of the obligatory binding referendums, and now go on amending this streamlined version – turning it into a patchwork again.

And so we live on happily, wondering why the citizens of Europe don’t have these – most natural – rights and why on earth are they deprived of such a – most natural – participation in their very things. And wondering, why the EU Constitution has been brewed up by a handful of men, watched doing so in a Convention theatre by an audience of a selected couple of hundred. Passing on the presidential paper onto fifteen heads of states to approve it after their summer holidays. For – instead of – the millions of citizens.

Amazing middle ages, to our simple Swiss ears, eyes and minds. Since a couple of generations, we do have our initiatives and referendums – our citizens’ Convention – and are Sovereign also to our Constitution. In this our permanent citizens’ Convention we keep on initiating changes to it and approving of all changes to it. So our kids will do, and their kids, and their kids, and so on.

Free Europeans, do you want to leave the Swiss alone in enjoying the most natural political rights? No? So, dear co-Europeans: Why don’t you demand that the EU Convention be made permanent and together with the EU Constitution put under your, citizens’, sovereignty.

You too are free and responsible citizens, aren’t you? Free Europeans, get your – natural – rights!

Free Europeans, don’t leave yourselves alone!

Vladimir Rott
Zurich / Prague, Europe
26 August '03

PS – the ‚grand‘ revisions, so far: 1866, 1872, 1874, 1999 / political rights, federal level: 1874: facultative referendum added, 1891: initiative added, 1971: women’s rights on the federal level (1990: the little canton Appenzell Innerrhoden forced to join in)

released in August 2003 through NDDIE Network for Direct Democracy in Europe – you may find some of it’s people at · citizens-initiative.eu · democracy-international.org · democratie.nu · mehr-demokratie.de · meerdemocratie.nl · referendumplatform.nl · sdnl.nl/wit-view.htm (WIT)…

→ PDF in English, Dutch/Flemish and Czech this call on vjrsite.wordpress.com ↗︎