Stanford University
Dave Turner
home-rule.com
Home Rule
All Politics Are Local

I. Electronic Democracy- A Personal Evolution

A. 1973 - Direct Democracy - Electronic USA Town Hall

1. Greek City State Ideal
2. Instant will of the people
3. 80 million voters online
4. The ultimate political rush….voters would have to pay attention.

B. 1980's - Representative Democracy

1. Pragmatic Democracy.
a. Elected representative as "Representative"
b. Elected representative as "Champion"
c. Elected representative as "Professional Politician"
2. Citizen Disenfranchisement
a. Washington as "different"
1. Out of step
2. Self-serving
3. Unresponsive
4. Distant
5. Lobbyist driven

C.1991 - Virtual Washington

1. Allow representatives to participate fully in Congress from home district
via modern communications.
a. Help make elected representative more accessible to constituents
than to lobbyists.
b. Increase chances that elected representative remains part of their
community.
c. Greater pool of potential representatives.
d. Promote citizen participation.
1. Increase dialog, both official and informal,
between elected representative,
congressional staff and citizens.
2. Continued increasing accessibility of
information on issues before congress.
3. Continued increasing accessibility of
information on voting records in congress.

D.1998 - Cannibalization of Washington - The Year of Lewinsky

II. Call to Action:

A. Petition:

We, the undersigned, urge congress to enable elected representatives to vote from their home district/state and thus better serve and represent their constituents.

B. Circulation

1. Local via clipboard
2. National via email
3. National via Internet Site www.virtual-washington.com
4. National via www.e-thepeople.com web site
5. Press releases/News
6. Interview with opinion makers
a. Political theorists.
b. Local politicians
c. State politicians
d. National politicians