Professor Robert A. Dahl (1915-2014) coined some criteria that must be fulfilled for an association to be fully democratic. All adult citizens should have equal and efficient ways to:
- Vote, and all the votes must have the same value.
- Participate in the previous debate.
- Learn about the relevant arguments and the possible consequences before voting.
- Suggest new proposals and decide which issues will be on the agenda.
“…can any actual association ever be fully democratic? In the real world, is it likely that every member of an association will truly have equal opportunities to participate? To gain an informed understanding of the issues, and to influence the agenda? Probably not.” (Dahl R.A., Ideal Democracy p. 42)
Dahl’s criteria are met by Equal Democracy (ED) – a kind of e-democracy using smartphones. In ED, everyone has the same – but restricted – democratic rights. The voting rights are still equal, but this restriction resolves two general problems in a democracy. First, there must be a way to protect minorities from the majority’s oppression. By restricting voting rights, minorities gain more influence over their main issues. They will most likely choose to engage and vote on their concerns. Second, many abstain from political engagement due to stress and limited time. The restriction makes it possible for them to take part.
Integrity and Privacy
ED uses different democratic tools. Because voting is strictly private, everybody must use a digital ID to log in. Smartphones give several login options, differing from nation to nation. One feature of the app is a voting booth where one can vote safely, without any opinion registration. The annual budget is a special vote, using a built-in budget simulator.
In the app, you also select an area of personal interest you want to engage. There are 17 alternatives because the natural menu is the 17 Goals. ED is most urgent at the global level, because of the lack of global democracy. The urgent need for sustainable development motivates us to launch a global referendum as soon as possible.
Incentives are used to encourage participation. Everyone who votes gets a receipt that the vote has been counted. A receipt is also a smart contract, a cryptocurrency ‘Pollar’ (equivalent to the dollar), rewarding your fulfillment of democratic duties. The money is collected in your digital purse. They intend to become a global currency and, when implemented, a global basic income.
The app has a feature to rank issues to vote on. We decide together what to vote for in the agenda ranking. The agenda is a prioritized list of upcoming proposals. You rank by raising the important proposals and moving down those that you think are less urgent. Proposals that don’t reach enough support at a certain time are canceled. Your ranking is private, but the common result is common.
Another private feature is the anonymous debate that precedes the voting. Those involved are encouraged to contribute with pro and con arguments. Arguments are ranked jointly. The debaters are avatars to avoid the senders’ authority to affect the evaluation. We want argument ranking based on content, not authority. ED keeps track of your democratic efforts and contributions and uses incentives to motivate participation.
Publicity and Community
Maybe you came up with a brilliant idea that no one thought of before. Then you can get highly rewarded if the proposition goes all the way and eventually becomes a law. There is an equal opportunity to leave proposals, but a restriction: one proposal per person every year. We don’t want a flood of inadequate proposals. That’s why we have a filtering process from the beginning. First, you suggest a preliminary version. Then the built-in AI searches for similar proposals to check uniqueness and moral alignment. It also tells you to complement if some fact are missing.
Another common task is the budget discussion, inspired by Porto Alegre‘s participatory budget. Public debate and private voting are complementary. The app has a budget calculator with control sliders to drag up and down. When you are satisfied with your shadow budget, you leave your proposal. The program chooses the median because it is more resistant to extreme values.
Adjusting the Constitution
To share the power, we need to abstain from the ambition to rule the world by ourselves. ED takes the power that nation-states and global companies couldn’t handle and gives it to the people. Thus, it will have enemies. To safeguard against anyone destroying or corrupting ED, it needs a constitution. Everyone interested has the right to vote for constitutional changes, but they often need a qualified majority (>67%).
The constitution decides things like: How many times can we vote yearly? How long is the debate open before a referendum? When will the votes be held? Which voting age? How many signatures are needed to leave a proposal? Which resolutions must have a qualified majority? etc. There are also limits to how many arguments you can contribute. Everyone must have the same chance of influence. If everyone had access to everything, people with plenty of spare time would dominate. It would also erode the value of ED.
Where does the Responsibility go?
One reason authoritarian societies have grown strong is that many people like strong, dominant leaders. They feel that these strongmen embody the state and create pride and respect. Although these leaders rarely have to answer for their actions, people are convinced they are responsible. So far, leaders of the Nation-states have not shown any global responsibility. Who is responsible if there is no leader? You and me — all of us. Shared responsibility is the fruit of our common work.
In ED, the “strong leader” is a human-technical system. Based on billions of votes and centuries of philosophy and technical innovation. ED distributes power evenly and ensures that the best proposals win. It also distributes responsibility fairly among all voters. With power comes responsibility. We believe in shared responsibility for global warming and the future of mankind.
Equal Democracy is an Elaborated E-Democracy
ED will need a setup of features that can kick-start the global decision network:
- A smartphone app
- A private cloud account accessible by digital ID.
- A process for creating proposals and gaining support
- A process for ranking proposals and setting the agenda
- A pros and cons argumentation forum
- A secure and tamper-free voting booth
- A budget calculator
- A purse to collect the rewarded ‘Pollar‘
- A flexible constitution
The smartphone app with all the features remains to be built. Luckily, there are magnificent tools online to co-create and eventually ship this enormous project. GitHub, Python ecosystem, and many others will be used. If you are a dedicated developer with knowledge and ideas to help build the app, contact us.
The name was chosen because “peer-to-peer democracy” was a little too long.