Social Networking = Direct Democracy?

One of those facts that was tucked away in our high school Civics or Government classes is that the United States is a Representative Democracy, not a Direct Democracy. While some smaller communities may be able to allow each citizen to directly vote on certain issues, most federal, state, and municipal decisions are made by the Senators, Representatives, and Councilors elected by the citizens. While changing this on a federal level would require an overhaul of the US Constitution, there's a new tool available to directly "cast a vote" on everything from the bills in Congress to your approval of the US President.

Visible Vote is accessible online, and there are also apps available for Facebook, iPhones, Blackberries, and Androids, so you can cast your vote anywhere. You can see real-time statistics by bill and by state, and there's a chart comparing how closely aligned various Senators are to their Visible Voting constituents. For example, 41.18% of Visible Vote Voters in New Mexico voted for the Jobs Bill of 2010. While it would be nice if this website could also link back to the text of the bills on THOMAS, the Library of Congress's legislation database, it does provide an interesting snapshot of how the wired world is feeling politically.