>Candidate in SF district declares run for CA state senate with most issues already set, either as a democrat or republican. Every SF resident gets access to an app and a vote on certain key issues. So issue of affordable housing and zoning laws comes up, constituents get to discuss and make arguments for each side amongst eachother. Maybe for this issue, they also get to vote, which will set this person's vote on the senate floor. Regardless, everyone else can publicly see the district's discussions, leanings, etc.
How is this any different than going to the candidate's town hall forums and asking them questions? Or keeping up with their views on their own site and emailing their aides with questions and concerns? Or hell, even engaging with them on Twitter (which, fwiw, seems to be one of the more effective means of petitioning these days.) Furthermore, legislative discussions are for the most part a matter of public record. There are great sites that help people with finding out where candidates and parties stand on issues, both federal, state, and local- https://ballotpedia.org/California .
>Maybe there's a way for constituents to propose new topics or referendums
> or that only the top contributors or people with 'points' get to do so. Maybe points are earned through verifiable volunteer work, maybe through donation. Maybe it uses analysis of what everyone's discussing already on the site to put new issues on the table.
Do you not see how ridiculous this sounds? So the people with more free time and money get to determine the political discourse?
How is this any different than going to the candidate's town hall forums and asking them questions? Or keeping up with their views on their own site and emailing their aides with questions and concerns? Or hell, even engaging with them on Twitter (which, fwiw, seems to be one of the more effective means of petitioning these days.) Furthermore, legislative discussions are for the most part a matter of public record. There are great sites that help people with finding out where candidates and parties stand on issues, both federal, state, and local- https://ballotpedia.org/California .
>Maybe there's a way for constituents to propose new topics or referendums
Yea, it exists, it's called a "ballot initiative" (https://ballotpedia.org/Ballot_initiative)
> or that only the top contributors or people with 'points' get to do so. Maybe points are earned through verifiable volunteer work, maybe through donation. Maybe it uses analysis of what everyone's discussing already on the site to put new issues on the table.
Do you not see how ridiculous this sounds? So the people with more free time and money get to determine the political discourse?
Are you even involved in your local politics?