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vers2 Upgrading Democracy: Claiming a Say to Achieve True Democracy

Peter Monien
Peter Monien

An implementable solution for the crisis of democracy. A suggestion to solve our democratic representation crisis. A sketch of a proxy party that gives the power of decision to its party members. Grassroot democratic and efficient with safeguarded information and democratic processes. Decentralized politics. https://upgradingdemocracy.com/

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Politics doesnt represent People How can we add more participation even when the established political parties resist? And should we? We have a Representation Crisis And who should do it? and achieve a real say
Politics doesnt represent the majority of the people As US and German studies* have shown politics favors the will of the upper class, and at best ignores the middle and lower class therefore more than 80% of its constituents. US study Affluence and Influence from the Princeton University, 2012 German study Systematic Distorted Decisions? from University of Osnabr端ck, 2016 and its infamous history of changes We have a Representation Crisis
People are individuals How to conveniently 'overlook' the will of the people? Easy: 'Pretend to know' what they want and ignore their input. Ask them about 20 topics/ decide on 200 Give them a vote every 4th year but give them no real choice Produce apathy, interpret disillusioned silence as approval Organize and plan via a centralized system with minimal input from the people affected Repeat every 4 years
Politicians are not aligned with voters Incentives Get re-elected, forever Industry job as lobbyist Money from speaking engagements etc. Other favors Pressure vote with party or get delisted receive enough election funding time pressure not being able to read/ understand everything voted upon
Incumbent Parties stack the game If you let parties decide on their own behalf they tend to decide in their favor: Increased payments to fund political parties in power and representatives Additional money for their foundations etc. Usage of tax paid manpower for party business Trade government contracts/ legislation for favors decreasing the chances for new political parties.
Incumbent Parties reduce control If you let parties decide on their checks & balances they tend to reduce the effectiveness of these institutions: Give posts to those that agree with them Weaken rules of oversight to extend their options
Fears of the Critics of direct referendums Rash decisions about complicated topics Uninformed voters choose the wrong solution as they have no time to educate themselves on the topic. Enable informed decisions instead of gut feeling - balanced information - set and safeguard processes Voters vote themselves money They didnt in 2017 in a Swiss peoples initiative on Universal Basic Income
Fears of the Critics of direct referendums Take over by big spenders According to a 1999 study from professor Elizabeth Gerber this didnt happen in the US: "Overall, there are no indications that financially strong circles have been able to manipulate the people in such a way that they managed to pass laws whose results were rejected by the majority of the people. Business associations therefore usually prefer lobbying in parliaments. Here the influence is more effective, cheaper and more independent of public opinion."
Fears of the Critics of direct referendums The fear of mob rule "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin You have to set rules Absolute limits to the rights of intervention of the state Limitation of the sphere of influence of the state Avoid favoring or discriminating against groups A working legal system
Participatory knowledge based Politics with safeguarded information processes and democratic processes Information Knowledge Safeguarded Processes Parliament Voters
If 5% of the party members vote to take the topic to the official deliberation process Safeguarded Processes 6 page input paper Fact gathering first, discussion later 1:1 Y N Liquid Democracy and 5% takeover vote Safeguarded Information & Democratic Processes 1:1 Transfer to Parliament e.g.: If 80% of the members vote YES and 20% NO, then 8 from 10 representatives vote with YES and 2 with NO. The Proxy Party in a Nutshell: Direct decision power for all party members if requested
Focus on Democracy & Transparency Fix Democracy First, extend with most pressing problems that can be moved, focus on quality and consensus Quality of preparations Manpower for - content preparation - fact checking - discussion facilitation Expert input Investment by voters interest in topics quality proposal of topic sense of change trust ease of educating yourself about topic Efficiency no. of high quality grassroot votes that can be carried out Effective Systems & Processes safeguard democratic and info processes easy to use secure
Put a safeguard to processes Safeguarding the information processes Facts (even the painful) Background and mechanisms behind the topic Pros and Cons and well founded recommendation Safeguarding the democratic processes Define and follow a topic input and pickup process Define and follow rules to discuss and widen topic Define necessary topic maturity conditions for voting
And the results will be better Prof. Jon Dryzek: The most obvious finding is that, given the opportunity, ordinary citizens can make good deliberators. Moreover, issue complexity is no barrier to the development and exercise of that competence. Prof. James Fishkin The public is very smart if you give it a chance. If people think their voice actually matters, theyll do the hard work, really study . . ., ask the experts smart questions and then make tough decisions. When they hear the experts disagreeing, theyre forced to think for themselves. About 70% change their minds in the process. Citizens can become better informed and master the most complex issues of state government if they are given the chance. Comprehensive empirical study on Citizen Deliberation by Prof. John Dryzek, Political Sciences, Australian National University Two decades of citizen panels run by Prof. James Fishkin, Political Science and Communication, Stanford University Both mentioned in Manuel Arriagna, Rebooting Democracy: A Citizens Guide to Reinventing Politics
Who is likely to do it? An incumbent political party that is close to the ideals and has nothing to loose A newly founded political party that needs an extra boost of trust to break the 5% hurdle Multiple newly founded political parties - agree to come together to upgrade democracy - jointly discuss about solutions on the basis of grassroot democracy with secured information processes and democratic processes A new political party to be founded
we could insist toWhat if take the decision in our own hands before professional politicians screw it up again?
Learn more about the idea of the Proxy Party and why single direct candidates are currently not the best solution: Publish date: 2019-12-03 You can preorder the ebook at Amazon for the reduced pre-order price of $2.99. The regular post launch price will be $5.99. If you are a book reviewer please send me a mail to review (at) upgradingdemocracy.com to receive your ACR.

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vers2 Upgrading Democracy: Claiming a Say to Achieve True Democracy

  • 1. Politics doesnt represent People How can we add more participation even when the established political parties resist? And should we? We have a Representation Crisis And who should do it? and achieve a real say
  • 2. Politics doesnt represent the majority of the people As US and German studies* have shown politics favors the will of the upper class, and at best ignores the middle and lower class therefore more than 80% of its constituents. US study Affluence and Influence from the Princeton University, 2012 German study Systematic Distorted Decisions? from University of Osnabr端ck, 2016 and its infamous history of changes We have a Representation Crisis
  • 3. People are individuals How to conveniently 'overlook' the will of the people? Easy: 'Pretend to know' what they want and ignore their input. Ask them about 20 topics/ decide on 200 Give them a vote every 4th year but give them no real choice Produce apathy, interpret disillusioned silence as approval Organize and plan via a centralized system with minimal input from the people affected Repeat every 4 years
  • 4. Politicians are not aligned with voters Incentives Get re-elected, forever Industry job as lobbyist Money from speaking engagements etc. Other favors Pressure vote with party or get delisted receive enough election funding time pressure not being able to read/ understand everything voted upon
  • 5. Incumbent Parties stack the game If you let parties decide on their own behalf they tend to decide in their favor: Increased payments to fund political parties in power and representatives Additional money for their foundations etc. Usage of tax paid manpower for party business Trade government contracts/ legislation for favors decreasing the chances for new political parties.
  • 6. Incumbent Parties reduce control If you let parties decide on their checks & balances they tend to reduce the effectiveness of these institutions: Give posts to those that agree with them Weaken rules of oversight to extend their options
  • 7. Fears of the Critics of direct referendums Rash decisions about complicated topics Uninformed voters choose the wrong solution as they have no time to educate themselves on the topic. Enable informed decisions instead of gut feeling - balanced information - set and safeguard processes Voters vote themselves money They didnt in 2017 in a Swiss peoples initiative on Universal Basic Income
  • 8. Fears of the Critics of direct referendums Take over by big spenders According to a 1999 study from professor Elizabeth Gerber this didnt happen in the US: "Overall, there are no indications that financially strong circles have been able to manipulate the people in such a way that they managed to pass laws whose results were rejected by the majority of the people. Business associations therefore usually prefer lobbying in parliaments. Here the influence is more effective, cheaper and more independent of public opinion."
  • 9. Fears of the Critics of direct referendums The fear of mob rule "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin You have to set rules Absolute limits to the rights of intervention of the state Limitation of the sphere of influence of the state Avoid favoring or discriminating against groups A working legal system
  • 10. Participatory knowledge based Politics with safeguarded information processes and democratic processes Information Knowledge Safeguarded Processes Parliament Voters
  • 11. If 5% of the party members vote to take the topic to the official deliberation process Safeguarded Processes 6 page input paper Fact gathering first, discussion later 1:1 Y N Liquid Democracy and 5% takeover vote Safeguarded Information & Democratic Processes 1:1 Transfer to Parliament e.g.: If 80% of the members vote YES and 20% NO, then 8 from 10 representatives vote with YES and 2 with NO. The Proxy Party in a Nutshell: Direct decision power for all party members if requested
  • 12. Focus on Democracy & Transparency Fix Democracy First, extend with most pressing problems that can be moved, focus on quality and consensus Quality of preparations Manpower for - content preparation - fact checking - discussion facilitation Expert input Investment by voters interest in topics quality proposal of topic sense of change trust ease of educating yourself about topic Efficiency no. of high quality grassroot votes that can be carried out Effective Systems & Processes safeguard democratic and info processes easy to use secure
  • 13. Put a safeguard to processes Safeguarding the information processes Facts (even the painful) Background and mechanisms behind the topic Pros and Cons and well founded recommendation Safeguarding the democratic processes Define and follow a topic input and pickup process Define and follow rules to discuss and widen topic Define necessary topic maturity conditions for voting
  • 14. And the results will be better Prof. Jon Dryzek: The most obvious finding is that, given the opportunity, ordinary citizens can make good deliberators. Moreover, issue complexity is no barrier to the development and exercise of that competence. Prof. James Fishkin The public is very smart if you give it a chance. If people think their voice actually matters, theyll do the hard work, really study . . ., ask the experts smart questions and then make tough decisions. When they hear the experts disagreeing, theyre forced to think for themselves. About 70% change their minds in the process. Citizens can become better informed and master the most complex issues of state government if they are given the chance. Comprehensive empirical study on Citizen Deliberation by Prof. John Dryzek, Political Sciences, Australian National University Two decades of citizen panels run by Prof. James Fishkin, Political Science and Communication, Stanford University Both mentioned in Manuel Arriagna, Rebooting Democracy: A Citizens Guide to Reinventing Politics
  • 15. Who is likely to do it? An incumbent political party that is close to the ideals and has nothing to loose A newly founded political party that needs an extra boost of trust to break the 5% hurdle Multiple newly founded political parties - agree to come together to upgrade democracy - jointly discuss about solutions on the basis of grassroot democracy with secured information processes and democratic processes A new political party to be founded
  • 16. we could insist toWhat if take the decision in our own hands before professional politicians screw it up again?
  • 17. Learn more about the idea of the Proxy Party and why single direct candidates are currently not the best solution: Publish date: 2019-12-03 You can preorder the ebook at Amazon for the reduced pre-order price of $2.99. The regular post launch price will be $5.99. If you are a book reviewer please send me a mail to review (at) upgradingdemocracy.com to receive your ACR.