Pioneering deliberative democracy
Economist Joseph Schumpeter didn’t think democracy could function if voters paid too much attention to what their representatives did between elections. “Electorates normally do not control their political leaders in any way except by refusing to reelect them,” he wrote, in “Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy” (1942). The rest of the time, he thought, they should refrain from “political back-seat driving.”
These days, with the internet, some people agitate for a deliberative democracy, where just about every decision can be made direct by the people.
My idea is to let governments govern, but to properly use the internet in a way that might help guide governments who are elected into power.
Passengers in a car must be allowed to speak up. But they should not all yell at once about whether to turn the wheel. Rather, they should communicate with each other in an orderly fashion to aggregate their opinion as to which direction to take along the journey.
This platform, as it grows over time, will be perfect for aggregating people's opinions, so the views of us passengers can be understood. Decisions makers everywhere do care about the views of the people on whose behalf they make decisions.
They might one day find this platform a valuable resource for hearing what the views of the people are.
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