A program is only safe if you understand its code.
If you think of government ministries like companies, and voters as shareholders, maybe the structure is clearer; if a company needs to ask it's shareholder something, it does; that's a topic. If a shareholder thinks the company doing that is a good idea, and can get enough to agree to second the proposal, then that becomes a topic as well.
These topics get offered up to vote on; the compostion of each voting group would be public, although the votes would be private; this would stop 'stuffing the ballot boxes' by anyone playing with the voting groups composition, as they'd be caught out.
Of course, I think the idea government is a benign charasmatic dictator with an oligarcic ruling council. EIther that, or any soceity established on the principles of feudal social libertarianism.