John Burnheim 1986
Burnheim's central thesis is that the current system nation-state bases electoral representational democracy is failing for a number of reasons and that demarchy is a viable solution.
Enormous problems for electoral democracy stem from the remoteness of central government from the individual voter. p218
Mass electoral democracy only seem sot work where the electorate is relatively homogenous in religious, cultural, political and economic backgrounds. Otherwise bodies seem to be mobilised around linguistic, religious, ethnic, regional or class boundaries. p218
Both the nation state and electoral democracy are inadequate as chicles for democracy under modern condition. p218
It is not possible for any one representative to properly represent an electorate and all its diversity p218.
A single vote is a drop in the ocean and hardly worth voting at all. p218
The traditional argument for a world state is that the states of the world are in a Hobbesian state of nature. p219
A world state could increase the welfare of the present worse off by controlling local despots, removing barriers to trade and development, and redistributing resources. Economic and legal sanctions by an effectively world authority could be incredibly powerful. p219
Nevertheless, a world state would constitute a dead hand on social change and individualism, and group freedom. It would result in enormous inertia & bureaucracy, and be extremely conservative. p220
"One of the great fallacies of political theory is the assumption that a centralised monopoly of power, and especially military force, is necessary to assure public order, co-ordination and public goods." p220
The need for states is not the result of any absolute necessity, but of the system of nation-states. p221
"Ideologies of the state as exemplifying the common good or general will or democratic control have powerfully reinforced the inherent tendency of the state to appropriate more power to itself." p221
International agencies have tended to be efficient and effective when they have been concern primarily with technical. When they address political or economic matters, they fair poorly. p222
The task of one state trying to control another is greatly facilitated by the state apparatus of the subject country. p223
Emerging nations tend to view democracy as a means to achieve popular power, rather than diversified participation and individual and group liberties. p225
"I believe, the traditional mode of representation by geographical areas has to be abandoned in favour of a system of representation of interests. More radically, I want to reject the idea that democratic control should be exercised through central authorities elected on the basis of one person, one vote." p227
Each citizen should have a say in each specific area of decision in proportion to its material interest in that area. p227
The simplest way of arriving at a committee that is representative of the diverse interests in any particular population is to take a statistically representative sample of that population. p228
Demarchic committees would rest their authority on their representative character, relative expertise and attempts to achieve optimal solutions. p228
The basis power of any authority is that of rule making. p230
The more the origins of an organisation recede into the background and its authority comes to rest on its actual performance, the less easy it is to delegitimise it and the more autonomous it becomes. p231
Bibtex
@article{burnheim1986democracy, title={Democracy, nation states and the world system}, author={Burnheim, J.}, journal={New forms of democracy}, pages={218--239}, year={1986}, publisher={UK: Sage in Assoc. with Open University} }