Reconcile..........................

  Mr. Newsom's emphasis on citizens fixing their own problems rather than pestering the government is admirable.  But he is naive to think that if you simply give more power to ordinary people, government will fix itself.  California empowers its citizens through ballot initiatives.  The result is a mess:  they vote for higher spending but lower taxes.  It is not enough just to give people hand-held devices that let them vote for their priorities, as Mr. Newsom argues.  You have to design intelligent systems that force them (or their representative) to reconcile their contradictory impulses.  The Republic is not a reality show.
-"Fixing the Republic" by Schumpeter in The Economist

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