Without
direct democracy every citizen will never have the chance to have all of their
opinions heard or
convictions counted.
Representative democracy, the party system, is here to stay. Face it. How will we get rid of it? A vote in the
House of Commons, ha ha ha? Each constituency in Canada is too large and diverse for M.P.s to represent all people at all times; damn.
Proportional representation is a
white elephant: it's not a new idea, but it will never catch on, because those in
power have
everything to lose. You're right: internet voting is
not a good idea. Making constituencies smaller is not the correct answer either. Neither is
chucking the entire system. What would we have then? What are the
alternatives?
Academics are advocating (surprise surprise) a switch to consociationalism, where benign elites (such as academics, for example) rule by virtue of knowledge, qualifications, and merit - supposedly. I don't believe democracy is that dead yet; although the ruling elite in Canada is waaaay out of touch with the values of our largely middle-class population, I do not want to believe the entire political system is irretrievably fubared, for my only resort would be Marxist smash the state idiocy. (For more information on how elites and proles diverge in their views on what is important to Canada as a nation, check out the surveys on the EKOS Research Associates website, http://www.ekos.com, or read "From Reaganomics to Humanomics: Re-thinking Government as if People Mattered", by Frank Graves (of EKOS), in the 1999 edition of How Ottawa Spends, edited by Leslie A. Pal.)
There are small parties out there that you might be able to gain control over: the Rhino Party, the Natural Law party (if you can yogic fly, that is, and are stupendous enough to unseat Doug Henning); the Green Party, or the Rainbow Coalition. These parties never win elections, but you could still be a big fish in one of those little ponds. Or, alternatively, you could be really ambitious and reach for the top. Why not be the next Stockwell Day - leader of The Canadian Alliance, ie. the Party for the Wealthy to Keep Their Money. The Conservatives (a.k.a. The Businesspeoples' Party for Total World Domination) seem to be floundering - perhaps they need your guidance, themusic. The Liberals (a.k.a. For God's Sake Keep to the Status Quo) will eventually need a new leader once demigogue Chretien dies (please let it be soon), but don't bother with the NDP (We're Pinkos and we're Proud, Exhaust Every Resource) (PAWPER), - they'll never win anyway.
The upshot of that last paragraph is that political parties are led by real people. Votes are swung and party philosophies are distorted by real people. That could be you. You could be a hero. Now all you need is a law degree, a house in Rosedale, Rockcliffe, or Westmount and several million dollars. None are impossible to attain. Mulroney did it. Chretien did it. I'm almost an eighth of the way there myself.