Perigos da democracia direta: o exemplo da California
Autor: Fabiano Pegurier | Publicado: 2011-04-30T14:19:00-03:00

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A ‘The Economist’ de 23/04/11 traz um ‘Special Report’ sobre os problemas políticos e econômicos que a Califórnia está sofrendo, em virtude do poder de aprovar leis independentemente do legislativo estadual, dado ao eleitorado por uma reforma efetuada no início do século XX. Em síntese, essa reportagem mostra como, quando os cidadãos podem fazer leis diretamente, sem passar pelo crivo das discussões e negociações que ocorrem em uma assembleia legislativa, as leis podem perder qualidade e os grupos de interesse ganhar o poder de manipular o eleitorado em seu próprio benefício. 

A discussão sobre os méritos da democracia direta e da democracia representativa vem desde a Antiguidade. Os atenienses favoreciam a deliberação das leis em praça pública, com a participação de todos os cidadãos. Os romanos preferiam que suas leis resultassem da barganha entre representantes das diversas classes sociais, que fossem responsabilizados pelo sucesso ou insucesso das suas decisões. 

A partir do fim do século XVIII, a preferência pendeu para a democracia representativa, quando seus defensores convenceram as Constituintes dos EUA e da França de que ela não é meramente uma modalidade alternativa de democracia, mas, sim, uma forma de governo essencialmente diferente e melhor. 

Inspirada no exemplo da Suíça, único país a usar com sucesso boa dose de democracia direta desde a Idade Média, a Califórnia, em 1911, deu ao seu eleitorado o poder de legislar diretamente. O objetivo era combater a corrupção política patrocinada em boa parte pela Ferrovia do Pacífico Sul, de Leland Stanford (fundador da famosa universidade com o seu nome). 

Mas, ao contrário do sistema suíço, a Califórnia criou uma confrontação, e não uma complementação, entre o legislativo e o eleitorado - e esta parece ser a raiz dos problemas atuais. Voltarei a esse caso no próximo post.