Audio

The audio available here is abridged by topic from the original audio recording. Some parts have been edited and rearranged. You can order the complete 13 hour, unabridged audio recording here.

Part 1

• Thomas Jefferson introduces the Democracy Symposium. (17m 33s)

Part 2A

• Is the Philadelphia II election legal? (3m 2s)
• Why do we need a Constitutional amendment? (2m 28s)

Part 2B

• Why will the election for the National Initiative work? (1m 48s)
• Why not enact the National Initiative via Article V? (3m 44s)

Part 3A

• Can the courts review the National Initiative election? (1m 57s)
• Does the guarantee clause preclude direct democracy? (11m 11s)

Part 4

• Elected representative vs direct democracy (4m 34s)
• Can you bribe the whole electorate? (1m 49s)

Part 5

• Is polling a good way to qualify initiatives? (3m 4s)
• Making laws has to be a deliberative process. (7m 26s)
• Audio was lost during a 20 minute power outage.

Part 6

• Why a separate branch of government? (2m 10s)
• Why does the Democracy Act include voter registration? (4m 59s)
• Who ought to be members of the interim board? (1m 22s)

Part 7A

• Introduction to Swiss direct democracy (23m 36s)
• Subtle effects of Swiss direct democracy (4m 42s)

Part 7B

• A history of initiative and referendum in the United States (19m 2s)
• Introduction to deliberative polling (12m 29s)

Part 8

• What is the function of the deliberative committee? (1m 49s)
• Do the Swiss elites cooperate with direct democracy? (4m 11s)
• Do polls show that the people want a national initiative? (0m 55s)

Part 9A

• What if there are too many initiatives? (1m 58s)
• Why does the deliberative committee have the final say on initiative drafting? (1m 18s)
• Why are deliberative committee members compensated? (1m 15s)