Why can't US CITIZENS vote on every issue before congress, on the internet, before our representatives vote?
826197
If citizens voted on all of the issues, what would Congress do?  They're put in office to represent their district's votes.  If people voted on every issue (good luck with that), then it makes Congress useless.
779223
That is honestly a good question!! \n\nYour very correct in your statement. Americans are too lazy to go vote!! Hopefully all of America has learned the lesson of staying home on election day. \n\nBecause when less than half of ALL Americans show up to vote, we get a President like George W. Bush and a congress like the congress we have....and so on.... \n\nAnd we can't make this mistake ever again!!\n\nWhat we as a country have become, we are not about, and have never been about..
74237
Always has, always will.  We must all learn to operate with a more sophisticated understanding of the American use of the term "democracy" in the first instance.  It doesn't mean (and has never meant) that everyone has an equal say in how things get done.  If that were true, we would all have equal access to our elected representatives.  We do not.  Look at the impact of lobbyists, special interests groups, political action committees, and cronyism on our governmental processes.  It's naive to think that we all have a say.  Still, it is important, as individuals, to remain involved in the process and to let our public officials know how THEY can best serve OUR needs.  When enough of us speak in concert, those who listen stay in office; those who don't don't.
675712
So, you want every law to be voted about in the public? I doubt people would care enough to vote several times a day. Also, there's one problem with democracy: the average joe is an idiot, but also numerous, voting with all his lack of insight for a law or president he doesn't understand the full meaning of.
804116
Your question needs some clarification, I think.\n\nCongressmen and Senators are elected, not appointed by the President.\n\nLocal STATE representatives(Congressmen/Senators)  get sent to their STATE capitols and US Reps get sent to Washington, DC after they have been elected by the ELECTORATE, which is YOU, the voter.\n\nYour right to vote is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. \n\n*** Let Freedom Ring\n\nHappy Thanksgiving.
1088797
Practically? Yes.\n\nThey discuss what they should vote on. They 'make stuff' to vote on and they vote. That's about it if you want the very simplistic version.\n\nIt is called representing the voter. You (if you did that) voted for that man or woman so he/she can represent you in congress. It is your congressperson. The only power he/she has is the vote realistically speaking.\n\nBut.. to be able to vote they have to know whats going on so... 99% of the time they sift though tons of information to at least seem informed. They fight of lobbyists.. or have dinner with them. Get hounded by the press because they said something stupid.\n\nBut basically you are right. What a senator is there for is to vote.
1106144
Politicians are crooks, haven't you paid attention at all? And yes, we have the power to change, but most citizens are too damn lazy to actually get up and vote. If we all voted to remove the politicians we have in office and replace them with actual representatives, we could. That is the beauty of democracy. The problem is the few people like me who actually want to change the way it is can't get the general public to "wake up" and actually do something.
1064019
We live in a Republic and not a Democracy. That means that we elect  electors, who vote for us. There is no federal ballot process. Only a couple of states like California have ballot propositions, which is why it is legal there. Can't happen federally.
307738
All citizens of the United States reside in a congressional district.  Members of Congress work for the voters in that district.  US protectorates and the District of Columbia generally have nonvoting observer representation in Congress.  I'm sure jaded people think Congress only works for big corporations or rich people, but most congressmen really are concerned with the interests of constituents in their district.  After all, money helps win elections but only to the extent it translates to votes.
315601
The United States has a representative democracy....\n\nThe citizens of the United States choose who will represent them in the government. Voting rights are established by the U.S. and state constitutions...Everyone is not allowed to vote in America....for example...in many states...convicted felons can never vote again.
1069234
Government of a nation of 300 million people is a messy, time-consuming business.  Remember that your elected representatives debate public issues and pass laws through most of the year, sometimes researching and discussing a particular topic for months at a time, if not years.  How many hours a day are you willing to discuss the national budget?  Defense spending?  Oh, and in your spare time, revamp the Endangered Species Act, decide if a law should be passed to further regulate the tobacco industry, decide on the responsibilities and scope of power of the Department of Homeland Security, and while we're at it, vote whether or not to abolish the copper penny.  You have three days to come to a concensus -- and you'll have to decide, as one of your first national votes,  how many American voters are required before a majority vote can be declared.  What if only two registered voters participate in the whole country, and they vote on opposite sides of the fence?\n\nRepresentative government depends on officials getting elected who most closely match the political stance of the group or region they represent.  In this system of government, it is the responsibility of those being represented to inform their congresspeople (persons?) exactly how they feel on issues they care about.  Don't really care about the Endangered Species Act?  Your representatives and senators will STILL discuss the issue and vote based on the desires of their constituents who DO, even if you say nothing about the matter.\n\nIf you were  in a system of government truly governed BY THE PEOPLE and wished to make an informed vote, you would have to consider the stance of everybody in the country who had something to say about a particular topic, just like your representatives have to listen to as many of the other 434 people in the house or the other 99 people in the senate go blah blah blah about the topic, trying to sway the opinion of their colleagues.  And when you've gotten bored of that, you have to move on to the next issue, one you may not care about, but are legally and morally REQUIRED to listen to regardless.  After about eight hours of this, of course, you're probably worn out.. and now it's time for you to go to WORK -- you're not a congressman or senator, so you're not PAID to do this stuff; you're just a concerned citizen who feels your vote should count for something, so you still have to find a way to pay the bills.\n\nBottom line: it's hard enough to get a working majority of 435 people to agree on anything; try getting a working majority of 200 million registered, voting adults to agree.  A 100% democracy is a train wreck waiting to happen; a representative democracy may not be perfect, as you have noted, but it's the best we've been able to come up with and still have personal lives.  If you're really concerned about an issue, get involved in it until it reaches some resolution.  Become a lobbyist if you must, actively involve yourself in your representative's voting record, make them sigh and roll their eyes every time they hear your name.  If you have an idea for improving government or a law you'd like to propose, get your representative to sponsor it in congress and make it happen.  A democracy only works if the the people get involved in running it.
777736
This is very funny, thinking about it makes me laugh, because all the technology that is out there, you can vote for American Idol on-line or through the phone. Why not vote for president? We still have these old machines for Voting that are rusted and very noisy.  If they would have voting through the phones or the Internet, I believe a bigger % of the population will vote, because a lot of people don't vote because they don't feel like going out there everyday routing to wait in line to vote.
746795
We need everyone to vote. Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal, and everyone in between.\n\nEDIT - I guess I should have caught the whole Wednesday thing. Sadly this has been tried before (2004 elections in Ohio).
703844
So powerful people can steal elections. This is a huge deal. All americans need to fight for clean and fair elections. We could lose everything because of this problem alone.
634803
It is not the US people who gets to decide, its the goverment. We as citizens are not given a vote in this. If everyone judged an entire society on the individuals who happen to be president, or head of the country, then we would all be dead already. BOOM
759598
No. Payment of taxes, residency, and voting are completely separate issues. Voting, participating in the government of a country, is properly restricted to citizens of that country. In fact, by law, an American citizen who votes in another country's elections forfeits his American citizenship.
328138
It's not quite that simple. We are not true democracy, but a representative democracy, which has the same principles, but obviously everyone in the whole country does not need to vote on every single thing that passes through congress, ese we would spend our entire lives in the poll lines. Anyway, direct democracies only work in very small countries with a minute population.