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As an alternative, what about moving away from representative democracy (i.e. where you periodically elect someone to make decisions for you by proxy), to a sys
by anonymousDan 11y ago
As an alternative, what about moving away from representative democracy (i.e. where you periodically elect someone to make decisions for you by proxy), to a system where you can optionally choose to cast your own vote for particular issues. If we had more lightweight mechanisms for performing trustworthy elections then maybe this would be feasible. I imagine by default though most people wouldn't be bothered to put in the effort to make knowledgeable decisions, and hence why you want to still have representatives.
- natrius 11y ago"Liquid democracy" is very cool, and it seems strictly superior to our current system. However, it will still be captured by capitalism. The most popular representatives will attract the most funding, and their actions will be as biased toward their funders as they can be without losing too much support. The big threat there is regulatory capture: promoting laws to clamp down on profitable industries, but in ways that give incumbents huge advantages because the laws are hard to comply with. The only way to get money out of politics is to make sure the people can control money.
- anonymousDan 11y agoSure but at least it reduces, albeit doesn't eliminate, the ability of politicians to say one thing at election time and then do the opposite once they've been elected.
- mikewilliams 11y agoA system where a delegate would have a number of votes they represent, and in which people could choose to cast their own vote, instead of letting their chosen delegate do it? This would have a few problems, mainly the secrecy of votes, delegates having unequal voting power and people who didn't vote in the elections.