Democracy is something most people take for granted and consider to be a positive thing. But what exactly is democracy? In order to ask how democracy is doing in Sweden and the world, to ask questions about the desirability of democracy and to consider how democracy can be improved, it is important to start with a clear definition of democracy...
Humanity today faces a number of critical challenges. We must solve global warming, prevent economic collapse, avoid war and bring peace to the world. This requires more democracy. At the same time, democracy around the world is declining by many measures. Why is this so? And what can we do to reverse the trend? How can we increase the level of democracy in human groups and societies?
Direct democracy can work in small groups and has several advantages, but it has never worked effectively in larger organisations or been feasible at higher levels because it requires everyone to get involved in all the issues and vote on everything. The result is unnecessary bureaucracy, many intermediaries and slow processes. People do not have the time, energy or knowledge to deal with issues in all subject areas...
Representative democracy allowed for a more efficient division of labour than direct democracy and is the way most of today's associations, companies, municipalities, regions and states are governed. But at the cost of reduced opportunities for democratic influence and often less effective use of people's skills. In addition, several serious problems remain with corruption, efficiency, accountability, lack of knowledge of representatives and how to satisfy the preferences of the vast majority...
Whatever system is chosen and however well-intentioned everyone may be, it often ends up with a few in power taking over and making decisions that do not benefit the vast majority. Why is this? Why do politicians, business leaders and those in power often make bad and contradictory decisions?
It is not because they are stupid, but because of the conditions of power. Those in power must keep strategic key people and key groups they depend on and therefore allocate resources to them, or those in power will be removed and replaced by someone else. This means that strong groups with great ability to lobby, influence opinion and vote manage to secure a range of privileges while other weaker groups find it increasingly difficult.
Digital democracy makes it possible to empower marginalised and weaker groups and force those in power to take their interests and needs into account...
With the help of modern technology, new possibilities for the democratic organisation of people have emerged that combine the best of representative and direct democracy, while avoiding the negative aspects of both systems. Digital democracy makes it possible to allow collectives to anticipate the consequences of different decisions, to weight decisions according to the strength of the preferences of those involved, and to have an inclusive and transparent decision-making process in which everyone who wants to can participate on equal terms without additional bureaucracy. This, combined with online deliberation in a reddit-like system with agenda control, means that a whole new type of effective collective decision-making is possible...
ALL CHANGE STARTS WITH YOU!
The Digital Democracy Association is a non-profit association that is religiously and politically independent. It aims to support and promote effective democratic organisation of people at all levels: from small networks and organisations at grassroots level to large companies, political parties and organisations at national and international level.
Its ultimate goal is a world in which everyone's influence and participation is maximised in a way that is compatible with high flexibility, efficiency and power to act in human co-operation and organisations. The Association's sub-goals are to (i) develop innovative open-source tools for digital democratic organisation (ii) disseminate knowledge and stimulate interest in effective democratic decision-making and organisational practices (iii) support organisations and companies to improve their internal democracy.
(C) 2022 THE ASSOCIATION FOR DIGITAL DEMOCRACY 802538-9241
