What is the National Initiative for Democracy?
The National Initiative for Democracy (NI4D) is a meta-legislative proposal that would allow citizens, independently of Congress and the Executive, to propose and vote on laws. NI4D consists of a Constitutional amendment and a federal law.
The Democracy Amendment, a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, will:
- recognize the legislative power of the people to make laws
- permit the people to amend a constitution by holding two successive elections, more than six months but less than one year apart
- create the Electoral Trust to administer the procedures established by the Democracy Amendment and Act,
- outlaw the use of funds from non-natural persons (for example corporate funds) in initiative elections under this article, and
- outlaw non-natural persons (for example corporations) from sponsoring initiatives under this article.
The Democracy Act, a proposed federal law, will:
- set out deliberative procedures to be used by citizens to create laws by initiative,
- describe the key responsibilities of the Electoral Trust which shall administer the initiative process on behalf of the people, and
- appropriate funds for the Electoral Trust from the United States Treasury
The National Initiative does not change or eliminate Congress, the President, or the judicial system. Laws created by initiative must still stand up in the courts just like laws created by Congress. The National Initiative adds an additional check –– the People –– to our system of checks and balances, while setting up a working partnership between the People and their elected representatives.
The full text of the proposed Amendment and Act are available here:
- The Amendment (562 words, 7 paragraphs
- The Act (3132 words, 59 paragraphs)