Grassroots Democracy and the Green Party of the United States
Yet again I'm having a difficult time finding the side I want to take on a political issue. I seem to be asking more questions than I can answer these days.
The most convincing reason for me to become a Green (back when) was the Ten Key Values that are the foundation of what the Green Party stands for.
The first key value, Grassroots Democracy, is defined this way:
Every human being deserves say in the decisions that affect their lives so as not to be subject to the will of another. Therefore, we will work to increase public participation at every level of government and to ensure that our public representatives are fully accountable to the people who elect them. We will also work to create new types of political, social, economic, cultural, and work place organizations, including unions, in our effort to compound the force of participatory democracy by directly including citizens in decision-making at all levels of their lives.
A very good idea, grassroots democracy.
When reading Ken Sain's blog this morning I found a post on what's going on in the Green National Committee . One of the issues of for a vote is this:
There is a proposed bylaw that could punish any state that refuses to place the Green Party nominee for president and vice-president on their state’s ballot. The Green parties in Vermont and Utah did not place David Cobb on their ballot line in 2004. In Vermont, that was the will of the majority of the state. In Utah, it was the will of one person - the official liaison to the state’s election office. The punishment for refusting to place the recognized nominee on an existing ballot line could be disaffiliation.
I think I understand why this policy is being pursued. It doesn't make sense to have a national party if each state is allowed to place a different candidate for president on it's ballot lines, and it seems like it would weaken us as a party. On the other had, a proposal like the one above seems to be in direct opposition to the Key Value of "Grassroots Democracy".
Maybe I need to practice some problem solving creativity, so I could see a solution somewhere in-between the two sides of this issue.