Patrick Millerd
2017-06-15 21:34:16 UTC
Not sure how many of you are attempting to enter this thing but I figured
I'd put up my first draft of the abstract to gauge reaction. Any comment is
appreciated. This is what my entry is supposed to cover-
https://www.globalchallenges.org/en/the-prize/criteria
*1. Abstract *(no more than 1000 words)
The abstract must summarize the design of the model, including the
institutions, regulations, decision-making paths and control mechanisms it
involves, as well as how key individuals and other decision-making bodies
are to be appointed.
My model is verifiable direct democracy powered by the internet. Any
decision-making system of the future needs to utilize our capabilities for
connected communication between the general public and the mechanisms used
in creating decisions. The necessity for the public to be able to trust in
their ability to influence changes in their society has many advantages and
challenges, this paper will attempt to address the significant areas of
this outcome.
The main challenge in a Direct Democracy is to allow everyone a voice but
to have those voices organized in productive dialogue. The internet, more
specifically a fully threaded forum on the internet is a great tool to
organize discussions. An internet forum paired with a categorizing system
for any changes within the governing body makes a comprehensive system of
direct democracy where ideas can be brought up, discussed, voted and
implemented all in one area.
Ensuring everyone an equal voice means one account per individual, identity
association between the user of the site and the physical person posting
under that user. The forum's posting rules become enforceable with
authentication and can ensure discussions are productive. A core tenant to
posting on the forum is that any post is an amendment to the post it's
replying to. Unless starting a new topic, a post is always an attempt to
correct the post above. Any general agreement to a post can be expressed
through a prop (upvote), props help posts gain visibility and legitimacy.
Failure to follow established forum rules can result in a temporary
suspension from posting.
The identity of users, as well as other sensitive information, can be
hidden, still available, but difficult to access without also raising flags
on your own profile. In a true direct democracy, all information is
accessible and verifiable, this is achievable with current computing power,
the challenge is organizing it properly. Possible to have a physical
building, a section in existing libraries, where users can log in to look
up sensitive information, monitored and secured should be enough to deter
people with malicious motives.
Another aspect of a direct democracy is in its ability for everyone to have
their vote counted. Even if they don't directly vote it's important that
every user gets represented so as to not allow extremists to control
things. With a proxy voting system that's run through a matching mechanism,
everyone will have a vote counted for them based on their perceived
preference. Unless they cast a direct vote, their vote will be an average
of the 5 closest matched users that did cast a direct vote. The matching
will be done through a variety of questions designed to predict voting
patterns. This way if only 15% of the population cast votes, 100% will
still be represented, offsetting the extremists.
Starting a new topic on this fully threaded forum is to create a proposal
for a change in government, whether it be a policy, priority, hiring or
budgeting change. Proposals are able to be created by anyone but like the
discussions, there are certain rules to posting. Each proposal needs to
fill out structured criteria, sections to help organize and place their
idea for change. This gives familiarity to all new topics so other users
can easily navigate what's being proposed. Associated forms and links can
be attached by computer algorithms or employees in order to legitimize a
proposal. Every section of a proposal, as well as the proposal as a whole,
is able to be discussed in a dedicated thread, further keeping discussion
organized and on track.
Proposals will fall into categories that the submitter can choose.
Location, from any individual neighborhood to a global scope. Sections such
as housing, transportation, healthcare, etc are also selected. From there
sub-section categories can be chosen, bicycle law for instance in the
transportation section. Proposals may fall into many sections and can be
chosen and searchable through keywords, concentrating the scope of
interested parties.
Proposals and posts can not be edited mid-discussion to keep exchanges
authentic. However, the original proposer may amend the proposal through
adoption. If a post from another user makes a legitimate reply to the
proposal and it's widely accepted by other users through propping, it is a
good indication that the original proposer should adopt that post in order
to gain acceptance from voters when that time comes. This adoption is done
through a simple check mark beside the post from the proposal creator, this
post will now be included in the final version of a proposal to be voted
on.
There will be employees responsible for helping in drafting proposals
before and after the discussion process. The finished version of a proposal
will be a concise breakdown of exactly what the proposal is proposing so as
to encourage as many votes as possible. There may be a number of iterations
before one is chosen by approval from users who have adopted posts in the
proposal as well as the original proposal creator, it then goes to a
general vote.
The current departments used in the government stay functioning. The
public, however, will now have the ability to direct the functioning of
them, with respect to replacing heads and setting annual budgets. All
changes and expenses by the department will be categorized for the public.
This limits the amount of micromanaging needed from the public, without
jeopardizing integrity. Department heads will have criteria they need to
meet before being considered for the position, these criteria may also be
established by the people.
Computing efficiency will continue to improve, helping users utilize the
system and familiarity with processes will encourage activity. Using
technology follows the global trend in reducing the man hours required to
run a functional system. Political bureaucracies are the hardest to adapt
to global shifts because they are their own governing body. That's why this
competition is so important, we need to reel in the excessiveness of
government and make it more efficient, stifling corruption in the process.
I'd put up my first draft of the abstract to gauge reaction. Any comment is
appreciated. This is what my entry is supposed to cover-
https://www.globalchallenges.org/en/the-prize/criteria
*1. Abstract *(no more than 1000 words)
The abstract must summarize the design of the model, including the
institutions, regulations, decision-making paths and control mechanisms it
involves, as well as how key individuals and other decision-making bodies
are to be appointed.
My model is verifiable direct democracy powered by the internet. Any
decision-making system of the future needs to utilize our capabilities for
connected communication between the general public and the mechanisms used
in creating decisions. The necessity for the public to be able to trust in
their ability to influence changes in their society has many advantages and
challenges, this paper will attempt to address the significant areas of
this outcome.
The main challenge in a Direct Democracy is to allow everyone a voice but
to have those voices organized in productive dialogue. The internet, more
specifically a fully threaded forum on the internet is a great tool to
organize discussions. An internet forum paired with a categorizing system
for any changes within the governing body makes a comprehensive system of
direct democracy where ideas can be brought up, discussed, voted and
implemented all in one area.
Ensuring everyone an equal voice means one account per individual, identity
association between the user of the site and the physical person posting
under that user. The forum's posting rules become enforceable with
authentication and can ensure discussions are productive. A core tenant to
posting on the forum is that any post is an amendment to the post it's
replying to. Unless starting a new topic, a post is always an attempt to
correct the post above. Any general agreement to a post can be expressed
through a prop (upvote), props help posts gain visibility and legitimacy.
Failure to follow established forum rules can result in a temporary
suspension from posting.
The identity of users, as well as other sensitive information, can be
hidden, still available, but difficult to access without also raising flags
on your own profile. In a true direct democracy, all information is
accessible and verifiable, this is achievable with current computing power,
the challenge is organizing it properly. Possible to have a physical
building, a section in existing libraries, where users can log in to look
up sensitive information, monitored and secured should be enough to deter
people with malicious motives.
Another aspect of a direct democracy is in its ability for everyone to have
their vote counted. Even if they don't directly vote it's important that
every user gets represented so as to not allow extremists to control
things. With a proxy voting system that's run through a matching mechanism,
everyone will have a vote counted for them based on their perceived
preference. Unless they cast a direct vote, their vote will be an average
of the 5 closest matched users that did cast a direct vote. The matching
will be done through a variety of questions designed to predict voting
patterns. This way if only 15% of the population cast votes, 100% will
still be represented, offsetting the extremists.
Starting a new topic on this fully threaded forum is to create a proposal
for a change in government, whether it be a policy, priority, hiring or
budgeting change. Proposals are able to be created by anyone but like the
discussions, there are certain rules to posting. Each proposal needs to
fill out structured criteria, sections to help organize and place their
idea for change. This gives familiarity to all new topics so other users
can easily navigate what's being proposed. Associated forms and links can
be attached by computer algorithms or employees in order to legitimize a
proposal. Every section of a proposal, as well as the proposal as a whole,
is able to be discussed in a dedicated thread, further keeping discussion
organized and on track.
Proposals will fall into categories that the submitter can choose.
Location, from any individual neighborhood to a global scope. Sections such
as housing, transportation, healthcare, etc are also selected. From there
sub-section categories can be chosen, bicycle law for instance in the
transportation section. Proposals may fall into many sections and can be
chosen and searchable through keywords, concentrating the scope of
interested parties.
Proposals and posts can not be edited mid-discussion to keep exchanges
authentic. However, the original proposer may amend the proposal through
adoption. If a post from another user makes a legitimate reply to the
proposal and it's widely accepted by other users through propping, it is a
good indication that the original proposer should adopt that post in order
to gain acceptance from voters when that time comes. This adoption is done
through a simple check mark beside the post from the proposal creator, this
post will now be included in the final version of a proposal to be voted
on.
There will be employees responsible for helping in drafting proposals
before and after the discussion process. The finished version of a proposal
will be a concise breakdown of exactly what the proposal is proposing so as
to encourage as many votes as possible. There may be a number of iterations
before one is chosen by approval from users who have adopted posts in the
proposal as well as the original proposal creator, it then goes to a
general vote.
The current departments used in the government stay functioning. The
public, however, will now have the ability to direct the functioning of
them, with respect to replacing heads and setting annual budgets. All
changes and expenses by the department will be categorized for the public.
This limits the amount of micromanaging needed from the public, without
jeopardizing integrity. Department heads will have criteria they need to
meet before being considered for the position, these criteria may also be
established by the people.
Computing efficiency will continue to improve, helping users utilize the
system and familiarity with processes will encourage activity. Using
technology follows the global trend in reducing the man hours required to
run a functional system. Political bureaucracies are the hardest to adapt
to global shifts because they are their own governing body. That's why this
competition is so important, we need to reel in the excessiveness of
government and make it more efficient, stifling corruption in the process.