Well said, good examples. And if the people who worry teachers’ unions have too much control over budgets and credentials, ever got together with the people who think police unions have too much power over management and discipline, the people would be well served.
I’ve been loosely involved in a few initiated constitutional amendment ballot initiatives (for primary election reform) and, like most things in politics, they come with a lot of political spending, tribalism, fear-mongering, and misleading discourse. Curious to hear your thoughts on citizen assemblies as another pathway. AI is going to transform so much of society; it could be an opportunity (and risk) to use it to reform governance too.
Yeah, I've seen a couple up close as well, but despite the politics of it all, I'd much rather have a citzen path than not have one available. On assemblies, for a long time I thought we should call for a Section V convention, but lately I've been thinking (a) it just leads to another representation problem; and (b) there doesn't seem to be an ability to control their scope to a limited issue (unlike a ballot initiative). The latter could be made more controllable, though not all the way. That said, I haven't explored this avenue deeply either, and so it is a good push to learn more.
Well said, good examples. And if the people who worry teachers’ unions have too much control over budgets and credentials, ever got together with the people who think police unions have too much power over management and discipline, the people would be well served.
I’ve been loosely involved in a few initiated constitutional amendment ballot initiatives (for primary election reform) and, like most things in politics, they come with a lot of political spending, tribalism, fear-mongering, and misleading discourse. Curious to hear your thoughts on citizen assemblies as another pathway. AI is going to transform so much of society; it could be an opportunity (and risk) to use it to reform governance too.
Yeah, I've seen a couple up close as well, but despite the politics of it all, I'd much rather have a citzen path than not have one available. On assemblies, for a long time I thought we should call for a Section V convention, but lately I've been thinking (a) it just leads to another representation problem; and (b) there doesn't seem to be an ability to control their scope to a limited issue (unlike a ballot initiative). The latter could be made more controllable, though not all the way. That said, I haven't explored this avenue deeply either, and so it is a good push to learn more.