Television Direct Democracy
	A realization of Rousseau's ideal?
	A nightmare?

A nightly show. Your government
Choices are presented, then you vote
	Some simple fingerprint ID to avoid cheating

Rousseau seemed to be backward looking, imagining a face to fact community.
Maybe he was really looking forward.
	Present technology makes such a system possible.

If you really admire democracy, why not embrace the TV direct democracy? 

It gets around all the problems inherent in representation--
	for that implies that one person can stand for another

Representation is inherently problematic. It involves a compromise.
Instead of choosing for yourself, you choose someone who then makes choices for
you.

Would it not be better to choose for yourself
	were that possible

Maybe Television Direct Democracy is unstable, or open to manipulation
	Does this mean paternalism really necessary?

 

Maybe the trouble today is that people see government as unresponsive
Easy to fear that nothing you do makes any difference
 

Some objections to Television Direct Democracy amount to fear:
What will populace do?
Are representatives wiser
	because? they are older, richer, better educated than average voter?

Why this attachment to representation? 
	as a principle? 
	or just prudential ? 
The key philosophical question: Why is a system in which every few years we
vote for a representative,
	who then expresses our will, as he perceives it,
Why is that a superior system?