Interactive Democracy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Interactive Democracy (ID) advocates the use of information technology to develop current democratic systems of government in order to give the electorate greater involvement. It is in part a development of the ePetition systems that are operating at various levels of government (e.g. 10 Downing Street) and may be categorised as a subset of eDemocracy.

[edit] Process

  1. Any registered voter may propose a new law
  2. Voters who agree can "second" the proposal
  3. Proposals with the most "seconds" must be reviewed by Parliament in order to create a law
  4. Parliament must also look at alternative proposals
  5. The proposal (with its alternatives) are presented to voters for ratification in a public vote or referendum

[edit] Core concepts

Multi-Faceted Decisions
Instead of voting for politicians, which becomes a multi-faceted issue involving policies, charachters and trust, Interactive Democracy allows votes on single issues which may be more easily decided on.

Democracy as Information Processor
Each voter may be viewed as a discreet information processor making a judgement on each issue based not only on their intellect but their experience, morals, values and how the vote will effect their futures. Compared to the few hundred people involved in decisions in a Parliamentary Democracy the thousands or millions of voters in Interactive Democracy, each with a wide diversity of life experiences, processes far more information and may make much better decisions.

Security
The security of the voting system is crucial for any form of democracy but the use of Information Technology adds new opportunities for fraud. All of the systems that are employed in internet banking systems are proposed to ensure security in Interactive Democracy. However, there are also concerns that personal information and voting patterns open up the system to "Big Brother" style manipulation. Proponents of ID suggest that strong regulations suported by an independent judiciary and police force will be sufficient to prevent such threats.

Costs
Proponents of Interactive Democracy believe that the use of information technology is crucial in order to control the costs of so many public votes. Once the systems are established they can be used for all levels of democracy: National, regional, local. However, there must be easy access to terminals (mobile phones or computers) for everyone in society for the system to be fair. This may involve public access through libraries but others point out that personal computer use is increasing and soon almost no one will be without access.

Media Involvement
All democracies rest on the freedom of the press and this is especially true for ID. Without media involvement in reporting on proposals and votes the system may not generate enough interest and involvement from the electorate. Though ID offers the media a ready made interactive story line there are also issues of potential bias which may need to be legislated for.

ID and Parliament
Interactive Democracy recognises the importance of parliamentary parties and government. It is seen as an extension of these political systems and recognises that government is essential for implementing new laws and policies and that parliament must oversee the system and clarify proposals so that they work as laws. However, some ID proponents do not see a role for the House of Lords.

[edit] External links

Languages