The End of Politics and The Birth of iDemocracy

In his interesting book "The End of Politics and The Birth of iDemocracy" Douglas Carswell MP lists the most popular initiatives on the British ePetition site as a way of illustrating that the British public aren't the dangerously ignorant mob that opponents of direct democracy would sometimes have us believe:

1. "Convicted rioters to lose their benefits - 217921
2. Disclosure of all government documents relating to 1989 Hillsborough disaster - 109482
3. Cheaper petrol and diesel - 60045
4. Make financial education a compulsory part of the school curriculum - 40069
5. Retain the ban on capital punishment - 24822
6. Keep Formula 1 free to air in the UK - 21301
7. Referendum on EU membership - 21252
8. Restore capital punishment - 16996
9. Public and private pension increases - change from RPI to CPI - 16756
10. Increase policing - 9366

(Source: Cabinet Office ePetitions site 2011)"

Those of you who would like to see small government and low taxes will warm to Carswell's book. He predicts that new technology will make it inevitable. He also argues against the view that direct democracy will lead to the many ramping up taxes for the wealthy few.