1 . INTRODUCIENDO LA DEMOCRACIA DIRECTA.

Dear Amparo, our federal constitution has articles introducing forms of direct democracy. Moreover, the fact that we are submitting the constitution for ratification by the people of Europe represents the most extreme form of direct democracy.
Leo Klinkers

Hello Amparo & Leo, I do share Amparo’s concern. To have direct democracy more than referenda is needed. May I refer to the working of the Swiss (Con-)Federation (a Federation since 1848), from town governments to the federal government? There is a lot of publications about it. I refer to start the study of its federal constitution (1999) to European Federalist Paper no. 20. A coincidence is that I started to make the analysis of the democratic lock down in Europe, since the French Revolution in 1789-94.

En el constitucionalismo contemporáneo, los instrumentos de la democracia directa están siempre equilibrados por elementos de la democracia representativa. El parlamentarismo es la esencia de la democracia, como decía Kelsen. De hecho, las constituciones suelen establecer una separación de funciones entre lo que se puede hacer por referéndum y lo que deben hacer las instituciones representativas. De lo contrario, se corre el riesgo de una deriva populista. Weber también lo argumentó. Los instrumentos de la democracia directa pueden ser ciertamente reforzados, pero las instituciones representativas deben ser preservadas. Se trata de encontrar una buena combinación.

For consideration no. III in the Preamble, I propose this amendement: “Whereas, finally, without prejudice to our right to adjust the composition of the federal body in elections, we have the inalienable right to depose the federation’s authorities if, in our view, they violate the Constitutional Stipulations concerning the powers between the Federation and the Member States, those of their respective entities included, or the powers between the federal authorities themselves, Adopt the following articles …”. I rest my case.

As mentioned in Note 4 of the document containing the amended Preamble (see Progress Report 5 of Saturday 16 October), Members who have already tabled amendments can still propose slight modifications during this weekend. The last proposal, from Giuseppe, I will include under Point III of the Preamble with the text: “All the Citizens shall have the right to resist any person, organisation, institute or authority seeking to abolish this constitutional order if no other remedy is available.”