The Organisation of Free Democrats

	The Basic Idea...

	Background of Free Democracy John Andrews started developing the principles of Free Democracy more than twenty years ago, having realised that our political problems were due to our system of government - not the politicians who we're led to believe are in charge, and whose only real purpose is to perpetuate that deception. The Organisation of Free Democrats was initially registered as a political party on 19th May 2003, but we were never really comfortable with the idea of being a "political party". So on 26th January 2008 we decided to no longer call ourselves a political party and duly dissociated ourselves from the Electoral Commission. This was for a number of reasons. One was that we had to pay to be in the club, but got back absolutely nothing in return for our money. Secondly, and more importantly, Free Democracy is basically opposed to party politics in principle. Providing people believe in and practice the core principle of Free Democracy, anyone can compete independently in elections as a Free Democrat without having to be a member of anything and submit to some form of centralised control. Being a Free Democrat is a bit like being a Christian or a Buddhist - you don't HAVE to join a church or a temple to subscribe to the ideals; you simply believe in them or you don't. So there's no need to join anything or buy anything; if you happen to share the same basic political ideal as us (that the citizen, PROPERLY INFORMED, should be able, IF SHE CHOOSES, to make all the political decisions of her government), then you too are a Free Democrat. The next thing to understand about Free Democracy is that it doesn't just whine about things, it proposes a completely different system of government to any that Britain has ever seen. Described in detail in our People's Constitution (based mainly on the Swiss Constitution and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights), it proposes a mechanism by which the citizen could assume his rightful place in his country's affairs: decision maker. Our model is not intended to be some timeless icon of perfection. It is simply a starting point; a tool that would provide the citizen with real decision making authority, and the means to go on to shape his government exactly the way he chooses. Consequently, it is important to realise that because the system is so very different, all its component parts (i.e. MPs, councillors etc.) are also completely different to anything from our normal experience, with very different roles and functions. TRANSITION We cannot introduce the People's Constitution (and therefore change our broken system) until enough Free Democrats are elected to form a government; but just one Free Democrat, elected to public office, CAN introduce significant reform: we can implement our Transition Model. Although much cruder than steady-state Free Democracy, our Transition Model nevertheless provides the voter with more democratic control of her councillor than she has ever had by providing a couple of tools that have never been available to her before: direct control of her councillor's vote, and recall. Free Democrat councillors would use short surveys of random samples of their constituents prior to every council meeting to obtain their constituents' wishes. The councillor will then use their vote at those meetings according to the majority view - EVEN IF THE COUNCILLOR PERSONALLY DISAGREES WITH THAT VIEW. Should the councillor strongly feel unable to vote according to their constituents' view (for example, if my constituents wanted me to vote for war in Iran, say, I simply could not do it), the councillor would be obliged to resign. What they could NOT do is vote contrary to their constituents' wishes. The People's Constitution provides a recall procedure - where constituents may deselect their councillor - and this process could be used if just one Free Democrat is holding public office. A recall petition is a written statement of not more than 250 words outlining why the councillor should resign. If the petition is supported by 34% of a random sample of their constituents the councillor must resign. The councillor may stand again in the subsequent by-election, but must answer the recall petition with a written statement of not more than 250 words. These are small but very significant changes to our so-called democracy that just one Free Democrat elected to public office could introduce. To Conculde... Although Free Democracy proposes a radically different model of government, it is also an exceedingly simple model, based on simple truths, and simple values that have been in existence for many thousands of years all over the world, and will continue to exist for as long as human beings live together. The Organisation of Free Democrats has no other mandate; because we stand for providing an administration system where the electorate make all the decisions and choices that shape our lives, there would be no point in us having 'policies'. We exist to introduce the People's Constitution to Britain which, once in place, would provide for the citizen to make any changes to her government as and when she wants to. Therefore, although Free Democrats have many diverse opinions and ideas, and are positively encouraged to express them, we could never dupe the electorate with false and pointless promises popularly known as manifestos, because under Free Democracy no change could ever take place without the consent of the electorate. What YOU can do If you would like to express your support for Free Democracy the simplest thing you can do is this: NEVER VOTE FOR ANYONE WHO BELONGS TO A POLITICAL PARTY Political parties, ALL political parties, are the cancer of democracy. If you cannot vote for a Free Democrat, vote for whoever your Independent candidate is. If you cannot vote for either, do not vote at all. The power of political parties over government decision making must be broken. If you feel like doing a little more, READ. I will happily supply you with a suggested reading list that will help you to realise the cynical illusion our so-called 'democracy' really is. Contact me (john@freedemocrats.co.uk) and I'll answer any questions you may have. If you feel like doing even more, and have loads of spare cash, do donate whatever you can afford (but don't expect anything in return - like a knighthood or peerage). Just like anyone else we have bills to pay, and your donations would help to keep us going. The Organisation of Free Democrats is wholly dedicated to providing a system of government where decisions are made by the people who pay for it – voters and taxpayers. A hard copy of The People's Constitution, or a copy of the book "PEACE TALK (or Possibly the most important book ever written....by John Andrews)" is available by contacting John Andrews

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