Real Democracy

Democracy critical success factors

Research suggests that Participatory Democracy and Direct Democracy have proven to have high accountability to the population. Here are some reasons why:

1. Citizen participation: Participatory democracy and direct democracy involve citizens directly in the decision-making process, which ensures that their voices are heard and their interests are represented.
2. Transparency: Participatory democracy and direct democracy promote transparency, as citizens have access to information and can track the decision-making process.
3. Accountability: Participatory democracy and direct democracy hold elected officials accountable to the population, as citizens can directly question and challenge their decisions.
4. Representation: Participatory democracy and direct democracy ensure that citizens’ interests are represented, as they have a direct say in the decision-making process.

Examples of Successful Implementations

1. Porto Alegre, Brazil: Porto Alegre’s participatory budgeting process has been widely recognized as a model of participatory democracy, where citizens are directly involved in allocating public funds.
2. Barcelona, Spain: Barcelona’s participatory democracy model has been praised for its transparency and accountability, where citizens are involved in decision-making processes through various mechanisms.
3. Iceland: Iceland’s direct democracy model has been recognized for its high level of citizen participation and accountability, where citizens can propose and vote on laws.
4. Switzerland: Switzerland’s direct democracy model has been praised for its high level of accountability, where citizens can vote on laws and hold elected officials accountable.

Benefits of Participatory/Direct Democracy

1. Increased citizen satisfaction: Citizens are more satisfied with the decision-making process and feel that their voices are heard.
2. Improved governance: Participatory democracy and direct democracy can lead to more effective and efficient governance, as citizens are directly involved in the decision-making process.
3. Reduced corruption: Participatory democracy and direct democracy can reduce corruption, as citizens have access to information and can track the decision-making process.

Metrics for Measuring Accountability

1. Citizen participation rates: The percentage of citizens who participate in elections, referendums, or other democratic processes.
2. Transparency indices: Metrics that measure the level of transparency in government decision-making, such as the Open Budget Index or the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index.
3. Accountability mechanisms: The presence and effectiveness of mechanisms such as freedom of information laws, whistleblower protection, and independent media.
4. Public trust in government: Surveys that measure citizens’ trust in government and institutions.

Transforming Democracy with Technology

Key Movements and Initiatives

• Future of Political Systems (GovernTech)
• My YouTube Playlist (needs fixing)

Problem Context for Future Politics

• “Democracy is a Conversation” enabled by modern communications innovations over the last couple hundred years - Yuval Noah Harari
• Risk to Liberal Democracies by Artificial Intelligence & Automation KG discussed in Economist interview
  • https://youtu.be/7JkPWHr7sTY?si=YhbTgG8QdirdQuDE&t=1060
• https://realdemocracymovement.org/podcast/
• Dan Brown Origin

Inadvertent Problems

• https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/02/22/techies_toilet/

Using Technology to Transform (Loomio)

• https://youtu.be/4vCL4I19o9U
  • Improved Collective Decision Making via the web
  • Participative or Autocratic - better?
    • Role of Civil Service? Above different parties
    • Belief by collective that the Internet can improve decision making for those impacted
    • Belief by individual that the Internet can be the conduit to have their needs and wants heard and actioned by the collective

Loomio Process

• Proposal
• Discussion
• Vote
• Iterate proposal to address concerns and improve

Democracy OS (Argentina)

• https://youtu.be/yGmGWZCE4h0
  • eVote requires:
    • Institutional commitment
    • Identity verification
      • Personal Sovereignty to take bank control from Corporations
    • Ballot counting
  • Uses Blockchain technology
  • Power Delegation amongst peers
    • Away from representation by mostly anonymous “elected” rep (e.g., MP)
    • Towards personal peers who you trust to lead you on an issue for however long you wish them to
    • Peers can vote on your behalf on specific policy issues (e.g., environment)
  • “Democracy is always a work in progress”
  • edemocracy.earth Foundation
  • https://democracy.earth/

Negative Impacts: Fake News

• Need Digital Literacy to spot
• Bodies to monitor social networks and act on…