We live in a representative democracy, where the elected representatives are supposed to represent the citizens. The system, however, is broken. Our representatives speak loudest for the wealthy and powerful. Regulations and legislation are turned against the citizens. The political bureacracy assumes more and more power. Citizens are more and more disenfranchised and ultimately, the frustration will lead to the passing of initiatives like TABOR.

To meet the challenges of the next decades, we must reorganize our government structures and empower our citizens. Because life will be so much more local, we need to strengthen the towns and counties. We can shrink our state government radically and devolve as many services - and revenues - as possible to a newly strengthened county structure. In some cases counties might assume many of the duties now held by towns. In others, there might be additional sub-county political units other than towns, eg a watershed.

The counties may be governed by a small legislature and executive or board. They may develop their own charters. The state becomes a federation of counties. We will need to modify the state Constitution.

• Efficiency is subordinate to local citizen involvement
• Size must adapt to locale
• Representative democracy depends on practiced direct democracy
• Power and responsibility go together
• Comprehensive scale: synchronize political and social

NB: This is only a rough draft. Link to top issues page when ready.