Tuesday, August 23, 2016

America's Largest Socialist Organization Calls For Getting Rid Of U.S. Senate In Current Form

The Democratic Socialists of America want to get rid the most important part of the United States Constitution, the Connecticut Compromise :
Economic democracy would be complemented in the political sphere by a new system that combined an overhauled form of representative democracy (our current system) with direct democracy, a system in which individuals participate directly in the making of political decisions that affect them. In this system, the Senate (an extremely unrepresentative political body in which states with very small populations have the same level of representation as the most populous states) would be abolished, and a system of proportional representation would be established so that Congress actually reflects the political will of the electorate. A democratic socialist government would also implement new referenda and recall mechanisms to hold elected officials accountable during their tenure in office, and a vast system of local participatory institutions would be set up to ensure individuals had a direct voice in political decision-making beyond the ballot box. These institutions would include citizen boards for various government services, program councils (at the national, state and local levels) for those who receive government services, and municipal and state-level citizen assemblies that would be open to all and would be tasked with making budget decisions (much like participatory budgeting processes currently in use around the world today). Finally, individual civil and political rights (freedom of speech, assembly, the right to vote, etc.), which are currently routinely violated, would be strengthened, and public resources would be devoted to the development of a genuinely free press and a democratically administered mass media.
No word yet from DSA supporters Comrade Bernie Sanders, Comrade John Conyers, and Comrade Jan Schakowsky. Since the small states can't be denied equal voting rights in the U.S. Senate: how does the DSA think this will come about ?