An excellent FT essay by Edward Luce: Is the US suffering from too
much democracy?
“Where direct
democracy is strongest, results are rarely flattering, they say. For example,
US cities that held plebiscites on fluoridation of water generally rejected it,
in contrast to cities where the decision was left to representatives. Educated
voters were as prone as everyone else to believe the “crackpots, rogue doctors
and extreme rightwing interest groups” that opposed it. Or take the counties of
Illinois, some of which adopted plebiscites for property tax assessments. Those
that did saw a clear decline in fire-service response times. Those that stuck
with their representatives did not. The difference costs lives.”
Luce reviews the following books in his essay:
Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not
Produce Responsive Government, by Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the
Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, by Jane Mayer
The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution
and the Rise of a Shadow Government, by Mike Lofgren