Elon University

Archives: Expert Predictions

Chapter 7: The Shape of the Electronic Republic: The Citizens, the Congress, the Presidency, and the Judiciary

In the electronic republic, the judiciary will have the increasingly difficult and sensitive role of protecting the rights of unpopular minorities and thwarting the popular will when it gets out of hand. Under the constitutional system of checks and balances, the courts have the ultimate responsibility to stop any tyrannical exercise of power, even by impassioned majorities of sovereign citizens. In the absence of such court protection, it is unlikely that any barrier would remain to protect unpopular majorities from being trampled on by majorities who believe they are in the best position to know what is in their own best interest … Protecting the essentially anti-majoritarian doctrine of judicial review will become the key to preserving democracy in the electronic republic and preventing it from succumbing eventually to a popular tyranny or demagogic leader.

Chapter 7: The Shape of the Electronic Republic: The Citizens, the Congress, the Presidency, and the Judiciary

In the future, the limits on the presidency will grow stronger not weaker, as every aspect of the president’s conduct in office becomes the focus of ever more relentless scrutiny from the incomparable big brotherhood of the entire citizenry. No longer is it a matter merely of courting a few congressional committee chairmen, dealing with influential groups of Washington political power brokers, and wooing the establishment press. The president must go to the people and woo the entire country.

Chapter 7: The Shape of the Electronic Republic: The Citizens, the Congress, the Presidency, and the Judiciary

With the growth of the electronic republic, Congress, too, will change the way it operates in important ways … Senators and representatives will be able to vote, debate, and even participated in caucuses, committee meetings, and hearings without setting foot on the floor of the chamber or in the meeting rooms of the Capitol. With computers, keypads, teleconferences, and videophones keeping them in touch with Washington, they’ll find themselves able to spend more time at home, close to their constituents … Many may even be able to live at home instead of moving to Washington … If current trends continue, Congress would evolve into a deliberative body that organizes inquires and hearings, develops information about issues, and makes decisions after receiving instructions from its constituents.

Chapter 7: The Shape of the Electronic Republic: The Citizens, the Congress, the Presidency, and the Judiciary

If computer-driven electronic keypads were put in the hands of every voter, … national referenda would be relatively easy to conduct on a regular basis. Whether or not the national actually adopts these or similar measures of direct democracy, unofficial instantaneous public opinion polls will continue to be made available on demand. The federal government will have no choice but to operate in a political environment of virtual plebiscites, even if such votes are not officially recognized.

Chapter 7: The Shape of the Electronic Republic: The Citizens, the Congress, the Presidency, and the Judiciary

Ballot initiatives and referenda on federal issues could be made determinative … Or federal referenda could be made largely advisory, in effect telling the people’s representatives how their constituents think they should vote, a system that actually existed in four states over 200 years ago. In the decades ahead, the public also may seek the power to veto laws that Congress enacts, thereby enabling the people themselves to overrule any federal measure they do not like … From today’s perspective, none of these scenarios for the United States is far-fetched.

Chapter 7: The Shape of the Electronic Republic: The Citizens, the Congress, the Presidency, and the Judiciary

People not only will be able to vote on election by telecomputer for those who govern them but also will be able to make their views known formally and informally, on a daily basis or even more often if they wish, regarding the politics, laws, agendas, and priorities about which they care the most. By pushing a button, typing on-line, or talking to a computer, they will be able to tell their president, senators, member of Congress, and local leaders what they want them to do and in what priority order. The potential will exist for individual citizens to tap into government on demand, giving them the capacity to take a direct and active role, by electronic means, in shaping public policies and specific laws.