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Jack Lessenberry for Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

The founders of our system attempted to give this country, and later this state, something called representative democracy.

Thats supposed to mean electing people we trust to represent our best interests to make laws for the state and nation. That generally worked pretty well. Not that it was perfect, and for a long time some of us were shut out of participating. But eventually that got fixed.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the system has become badly broken. Term limits have been a disaster. But what may be even worse is the rise of extreme gerrymandering. That means, jiggering the district lines in such a way as to give one party complete dominance.

Thats whats happened in this state. Though Michigan usually votes Democratic in national elections, Republicans have been in control of most or all branches of state government the last several times new lines have been drawn.

Rather than keep communities together, theyve drawn the lines to give themselves maximum partisan advantage. As a result, we have elections in which Democrats win a majority of the statewide vote for legislature or Congress, but end up with only a minority of the seats.

Worse, most districts are drawn in a way to make them completely uncompetitive in a general election, no matter what. Thats why Brian Banks, a known criminal, could be elected despite a long string of felonies.

Community interests are also ignored.

... most districts are drawn in a way to make them completely uncompetitive in a general election, no matter what.

Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, which rightly were in the same congressional district for decades, are no longer. Rural Oakland County voters are combined with the Grosse Pointes and some of the roughest and poorest inner-city neighborhoods.

Requiring a fair way to draw district lines is essential if we are ever to make democracy work again.

Members of a non-partisan, non-profit group called Voters Not Politicians has been working for months to find out what voters want, and how to draw up a state constitutional amendment to give it to them. Theyve come up with a workable plan for a fair and bipartisan commission that would draw the boundaries.

Finally, they submitted petition language to the Board of State Canvassers on June 28, so they could start collecting the more than 315,000 signatures theyd need to get it on next years ballot.

But the board still hasnt acted.

And Voters Not Politicians is complaining they are losing valuable time. I wasnt surprised at the delay when I heard that the petition they submitted was eight pages long, in tiny type.

But Walt Sorg, one of their guiding spirits, explained. The document is really long because (under state law) we are required to include all current language that is either repealed or abrogated by our amendment.

Sorg, a longtime, experienced Lansing hand who has worked in all three branches of state government did say that if it gets on the ballot, voters will fortunately see only a one hundred word summary. It makes sense to make sure the language is right; Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley had to throw out a bunch of signatures after his petition drive went off half-cocked.

But I am hoping that Voters Not Politicians can get their amendment before the people as soon as possible. The future of both representative, and responsible, government may be at stake.

Jack Lessenberry is Michigan Radios Senior Political Analyst. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

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Petition drive tries to return Michigan to a true, representative democracy - Michigan Radio

Since Polands conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government was elected in October 2015, it has systematically moved to consolidate its power. The countrys public media have lost their independent voice. The powers of the supreme court have been curtailed. Managers of enterprises have been replaced. Human rights, especially for women, have been constantly undermined.

The latest and most damaging development with regard to the strength and durability of Polands democratic structures is PiSs move against the entire judiciary. The countrys legislative, executive, and judicial powers will now be controlled by PiS and administered by the justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro. New legislation pushed through the parliament during a late-night session on July 12 gives Ziobro the right to appoint and dismiss judges, including those on the supreme court. The independent body that nominated judges is being disbanded.

Furthermore, the justice minister now has the right to dismiss the presidents of regional and appellate courts. What this means is that if PiS wants to silence the opposition and its critics by bringing what opponents believe will be trumped-up corruption charges, the government will have a compliant judiciary at its disposal. PiS has crushed the judicial system in Poland, said Ewa towska of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

The opposition has held demonstrations. Jarosaw Kaczyski, the PiS leader, accused protesters of trying to stage a coup dtat. On July 16, Polish public television reported on the demonstrations with the caption: The opposition attempts to organize a coup against the democratically elected government. Such language will almost certainly become more widespread and conspiratorial in the run-up to regional elections due in 2018.

Kaczyski has never wavered in his belief that after 1989, Poland never had a real revolution that would havein his viewcleansed the countrys system of Communists, their supporters, and the secret police. Since then, he has been waging his own relentless war against the liberal wing of the Solidarity trade union movement. For Kaczyski, it is they who have prolonged the old system. Had his nationalist wing of Solidarity been in the drivers seat, things would have been entirely differentaccording to his narrative, which continues a quarter of a century later.

The vendetta has become so intense that Lech Wasa, the former leader of Solidarity, is vilified by PiS. He has been accused of conniving with the secret police. Polands school curriculum now presents a particularly jaundiced interpretation of the events leading up to 1989 and the years afterward. Wasas role hardly figures in school textbooks, if at all. Such is the politics of revenge that is playing out in Polandto the detriment of the countrys democracy and place in Europe.

Over in Brussels, the European Commission is supposed to protect and uphold Article 2 of the EUs founding treaty, which states, The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. On July 14, the EU issued a statement expressing great concern after the Polish parliament introduced a bill to force all supreme court judges to step down except those the justice minister wanted to remain. Not much of a rebuke.

Its not as if European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans is unaware of what is taking place in Poland. His strategy so far has been to pursue a dialogue with PiSto no avail. The problem is that without any kind of pressure, PiS will be undeterred. One need only look at the experience of nearby Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbn has used his partys two-thirds majority in the parliament to turn the country into a state based on loyalty, patronage, clientelism, and corruption.

The EU can either discard Article 2as if civil society, the opposition, and what is left of the independent judiciary in Poland didnt matteror stop the flow of Polands EU structural funds, which are paid for by taxpayers. That is what the union should have done long ago in Hungary. But such a move would require the support of the EU member states, and Poland knows Hungary is on its side. PiS seems confident that penalties would never be agreed on. And then there is the argument that threats from Brussels will only harden PiSs stance against the EU.

These are well-worn and tired arguments. By joining the EU, Poland and Hungary signed up to a set of obligations, values, and solidarity. The most recent developments in Poland show that Warsaw is making a mockery of the EU. But the union, with political will, still has time to change tack. After all, overwhelming majorities of Poles and Hungarians still back the EU. That support should no longer be ignored.

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Poland's Drift Away From Democracy - Carnegie Europe

Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah Tuesday said that the rulers stubbornness was posing a threat to democracy in the country.

Talking to a delegation of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Shah warned the government that if Volume 10 of the JIT report was made public they would not be able to face the people.

He added that the much the government would dig Panama case the deeper it would sink.

Shah said that if the government demanded making volume 10 of the JIT report public, the prime minister would not be able to face anyone.

Khurshid Shah said they were not protecting the government rather Parliament and democracy.

He added that it had been a distinction of PPP to save democracy.

The opposition leader added that PPP had accepted SC decision against its own prime minister without any hesitation, then how they would not accept the apex court decision against Nawaz Sharif.

More:
Rulers' stubbornness posing threat to democracy: Shah - The Nation

CARACAS, Venezuela Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro on Monday pledged to defy the government with escalating protest tactics, a day after showing their strength in an unofficial referendum that they said drew more than 7million votes condemning his rule.

Leaders of the Democratic Unity coalition say they will bring the country to a halt with a 24-hour general strike Thursday, urging workers to stay home and businesses to shut their doors to protest Maduros controversial plan to overhaul Venezuelas constitution.

They also invited Venezuelans who remain loyal to Hugo Chvez but dislike Maduro, his hand-picked successor, to join them in a unified front to stop the government from moving forward with a July 30 vote to elect delegates for a constituent assembly empowered to rewrite the 1999 constitution. Critics see the maneuver as a naked power grab that would amount to a death sentence for democratic rule.

This is the zero hour, opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara said Monday, characterizing upcoming protest measures as a last-ditch effort to save the country from full-blown dictatorship.

The U.S. government intensified the pressure on the Maduro government on Monday, with President Trump vowing in a statement to take strong and swift economic actions if the July 30 vote took place. He called Maduro a bad leader who dreams of becoming a dictator and praised Sundays referendum.

Maduro opponents likened the Sunday vote to an act of mass protest. Of the nearly 7.6million Venezuelans said to have participated in the balloting organized by opposition leaders, not election authorities more than 98percent voted to reject the governments plan to draw up a new constitution, opposition leaders said. The vote also urged Venezuelas armed forces to uphold the existing constitution and support early elections.

Buoyed by those results, Guevara said, opposition lawmakers this week will also name new supreme court justices in a repudiation of the current court, which Maduro has stacked with loyalists. The move seems likely to deepen the standoff between Maduro and the opposition- controlled parliament, with the two sides on a path to developing competing legal systems.

[Stripped of their powers, Venezuelan lawmakers accuse Maduro of a coup]

On Monday, Socialist Party officials who back Maduro dismissed the 7.6 million vote tally as wildly inflated, claiming that opposition supporters voted multiple times and that the organizers of the referendum did not bother to actually count the ballots. They did not offer any proof to substantiate their claims.

But Flix Seijas Rodrguez, director of the independent Delphos polling agency, said he was amazed by the results of the referendum, given that it was organized in only three weeks and faced significant challenges. The Maduro government blasted the exercise as illegitimate and hurled threats at organizers while attempting to enforce a news blackout.

Anti-Maduro voters also faced the threat of violence. In one Caracas neighborhood, gunmen opened fire outside a polling station, killing one and injuring four.

On July 30, the Maduro government will ask Venezuelans to elect representatives for the constituent assembly. Government opponents see Maduros effort to rewrite the constitution as potentially a fatal blow to what remains of Venezuelan democracy, particularly if the assembly allows the unpopular Maduro to remain in office beyond 2019, when his term is set to expire.

[Things are so bad in Venezuela that people are rationing toothpaste]

At least 92 people have been killed in more than three months of unrest and near-daily clashes between security forces and protesters. Opposition leaders said Monday that Venezuelas democracy had reached a tipping point, requiring an intensification of street demonstrations and defections from within the government.

We interpret [the results] as a message from the people telling us to keep doing what we have been doing, plus much more, said Juan Andrs Meja, an opposition legislator who organized the referendum. We will respond to that call accordingly.

Some opposition supporters said they were disappointed that the referendum fell short of the 11million votes they were hoping for. The final reported tally of 7.6million votes was also lower than the 7.7million who voted for the opposition in 2015 parliamentary elections.

But analysts pointed out that the referendum was only symbolic, lacking the logistical support and infrastructure of an official election. Only about 15,000 polling stations were set up for the referendum, compared with more than twice as many during ordinary elections.

This wasnt a presidential election, said John Magdaleno, a political consultant and the director of the Polity polling firm. Its just an unofficial consultation.

Activists and analysts compared the turnout with the numbers of votes Chvez obtained when he held similar referendums.

Chvez never got more than 6.5million people to vote in his favor in the referendums, analysts noted, and when Venezuelas economy was humming and he was reelected president in 2012, he obtained just over 8million votes.

He died of cancer in 2013, and Maduro, his Socialist Party successor, has fared poorly in his shadow.

[Government supporters attack Venezuelan congress, injure opposition lawmakers]

Despite the latest demonstration of opposition to his plans, few believe that Maduro is willing to change course. Dismissing the referendum results as inconsequential, he called on his opponents to sit down to start a new round of dialogue with his government.

Maduros opponents are boycotting the July 30 vote, and in recent surveys, 85percent of Venezuelans say they reject changes to the constitution.

People will be disappointed if they expect the government to react directly to the results [of the referendum] or change anything, said Luis Vicente Len, a political analyst and the director of the Datanalisis polling agency, adding that the large turnout was important nonetheless.

More than 7million people participated actively in an act of civil disobedience and ignored the governments allegations that it was an illegal one, he said.

Read more:

Venezuela may be sliding into a civil war

How a new kind of protest movement has risen in Venezuela

Stuck in a death spiral, Venezuela is borrowing money at any cost

Venezuelas paradox: People are hungry, but farmers cant feed them

Venezuelans are storming supermarkets as food supplies dwindle

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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After protest vote, Maduro's foes warn of 'zero hour' for Venezuela's democracy - Washington Post

Joseph Pennington Published 6:01 p.m. ET July 17, 2017 | Updated 6:05 p.m. ET July 17, 2017

Iraqi federal police member in Old City of Mosul on July 9, 2017.(Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)

The Iraqi victory over the Islamic State in Mosul is something that both Iraqis and Americans can celebrate. Iraqis from all sects and ethnicities fought together bravely for months to liberate the city from a truly barbaric enemy.

We have many reasons to be optimistic about Iraqs future. Just as the Iraqis are leading the way on the battlefield, they are leading the effort to stabilize their liberated communities. An Iraqi-led, United Nations-supported stabilization program has enabled nearly two million internally displaced Iraqis to return home, including nearly one million in Anbar Province.

We have seen this in Tikrit, Ramadi, Fallujah and, most recently, East Mosul. Communities are coming back to life. Mosul University students are now pitching in to clear debris so classes can start in the fall. In East Mosul, 350,000 children have returned to school.

OUR VIEW

Winning the peace in Mosul

Prime Minister Haider Abadis steady leadership and empowerment of local officials has been a key reason for Iraqs success against ISIS. By giving provincial and local leaders the authority and resources to rebuild communities, he has built trust across communal lines and set the stage for long-term stability.

There are still battles left to fight in ISIS-controlled Tal Afar, Hawijah and al-Qaim. With time and continued U.S. support, we are confident that Iraqis will liberate these areas.

Optimism about Iraqs future shouldnt blind us to the considerable challenges it faces. The country needs to heal and overcome sectarian divisions. Iraqs economy, after years of war and low oil prices, needs reform. Corruption discourages private sector initiative. ISIS will persist as a terrorist threat long after it no longer controls territory.

But these problems can be addressed now that the ISIS caliphate has been defeated. Iraq boasts the worlds second largest oil reserves and has shown itself to be a resilient democracy.

With the continued support of the United States and international community, Iraq is positioned to emerge in the post-ISIS era stronger and more unified than ever before.

Joseph Pennington is the State Departments deputy assistant secretary for Iraq.

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Iraq's democracy shows resiliency - USA TODAY