>But considering the system, how can we be surprised? Have you ever watched Senate or House sessions? There are exceptions, but the majority of the time we have representatives standing up and making speeches, in no thoroughly organized matter, with no meaningful dialouge, in a completey empty room, excepting the representative who's speaking, a couple of their aids, and a parlimentarian.
>
>Given that, do you really think it would be a bad idea to at least investigate the option of modernizing the legislative process with technology that aims to facilitate more effecient and more open discusions?

This way at least you can know who showed up. If they were supposed to read all that stuff at their office computers, how could you know whether they read it at all? It could be just another clerk of theirs who downloads it and signs out as "downloaded and read".

I've had another idea...http://ndragan.com/sf/sf06/ghost_in_the_machine.htm, but then I've just discovered that it breaks on the link to page3... so, here it is, in brief:

Anyone interested votes on any question, period. Possible votes: agree, disagree, want to discuss, not interested, suggest a different question. Vote via whatever gadget they have at hand - cell phone, brain hookup, any sort of com(puting or -munication) device. Who's eligible? Anyone who passes the test:

"The self-awareness exam is designed so that the examinee can prove to be able to defend himself with words, deed or lack thereof, to be resistant to offering of fool's gold bargain, that he is not gullible and that he uses his own head to think with. Most get past this exam by age of fourteen to nineteen, but it was recorded that some never passed it, and some did at the age of eight. The examination committee is nominated by the local government, or a standalone committee approved by them. There are strolling committees, who visit backwaters; they must have a planetary or federal license. They are paid for each exam regardless of its outcome; the exam happens when candidate calls."

you can download the whole novel at http://www.lulu.com/DRFairday ... and yes, it's SF, and it's for free.