Eight Billion Cheers for Direct Democracy

Eight Billion Cheers for Direct Democracy presents a compelling and comprehensive defense of direct democracy. It argues that direct democracy — as opposed to such token democracies as India, the Russian Federation, or the United States — provides the best hope for a free, just, prosperous, peaceful, and sustainable future. It defends the direct democracy framework as it was once practiced by the Athenians and other Greeks, and as it is practiced today by some subnational groups. It specifically indicts such minority-ruled systems as representative “democracies,” oligarchies, theocracies, president-for-life arrangements, and dictatorships.
By consciously trying to avoid the narrow vision of specialists, the more holistic approach of this book enjoys distinct advantages. It makes the case for direct democracy far more compelling. It underscores the urgency of replacing current political systems with direct democracy. It explains why, paradoxically, most people are, at best, lukewarm about the idea of governing themselves. It allows us to see that, far from being an oddity, direct democracy is the default condition of human societies. By covering Athens and Switzerland at great length, it allows us to appreciate the achievements, intricacies, and potential of direct democracy. By comparing direct and representative democracies, it allows us to see that we can do better than we are doing now, and that we can do so by combining the best features of both. By providing a few present-day illustrations, it shows that direct democracy can accomplish just as much now as it did in the past. Finally, this approach provides useful blueprints for the implementation of direct democracy in the contemporary world.
Chapter 1 shows that humanity is unwisely, suicidally, scandalously, and heartlessly governed, thereby providing the rationale for the main theme of this book: A search for a free, sustainable, just, and peaceful system of governance. Chapter 2 argues that the rulers of