This is amazing. I have dreamt of a system like this and armchair-proposed it to friends countless times. I am always faced with derision in such conversations[1] - but I believe that a secure implementation of such an idea could be the future of democracy.
Or rather, its past. Ancient Greek democracy wasn't perfect (slavery; not everyone was citizen) but it was much better than our current system of professional politicians and uber-powerful political parties and lobbies.
The small, first struggle will be to implement it as securely as possible - for this you'll likely need to distribute specific hardware[2]. The second and largest struggle would be to actually change constitutions and take power away from the organizations that have hoarded it for decades[3].
There is a lot of scepticism in these comments. My infosec and analytical side is obviously going to go into full-attack mode when there is something solid to take apart - BUT for the time being I'd like to say a huge "bravo" to both this team and YC for backing them.
I hope you change the world.
[1] how would it work; why would people care to get involved; execution/implementation issues; fraud; ...
[2] something between RSA tokens and dedicated mobile voting machines
Totally agree; finding out what democratic interaction should look like and how it should work for societies in the current hyper-connected paradigm is -at best- something that will take a lot of time.
There is, undoubtedly, a technological challenge to address, but moreover I think the greatest challenge is the cultural one. We're risen to think communites (countries, towns, organisations, etc.) should be managed in one of so many fashions, but we're willing to ask ourselves time and again what other possible ways there are for doing this, and implement on that.
We may not nail it soon, but we'll definitely try as long as we can.
I think delegation or proxying is an important feature in a direct democracy platform that I see missing here. It allows people without the technical expertise to make an informed decision by allowing a trusted third party to make the decision for them.
I believe this would give rise to something like we have today where policiticans collect proxies (votes), however it would be a more ephemeral relationship since people could take their voting rights back if unsatisified or if they felt strongly on an issue. I think this would create a more balanced dynamic then we currently have.
others made such software before, also member of the pirate party germany.
It's called liquid democracy and ads delegation possibilities to trusted fellows.
This delegation option is chainable and thus address certain problems already pointed out in this thread: lack of time, knowledge to make an informed decision,..
DemocracyOS falls short in this obvious matters and could ad this feature, since delegation is a core feature
It is fieldtested in small northern german communities by their city councils I think.
Or rather, its past. Ancient Greek democracy wasn't perfect (slavery; not everyone was citizen) but it was much better than our current system of professional politicians and uber-powerful political parties and lobbies.
The small, first struggle will be to implement it as securely as possible - for this you'll likely need to distribute specific hardware[2]. The second and largest struggle would be to actually change constitutions and take power away from the organizations that have hoarded it for decades[3].
There is a lot of scepticism in these comments. My infosec and analytical side is obviously going to go into full-attack mode when there is something solid to take apart - BUT for the time being I'd like to say a huge "bravo" to both this team and YC for backing them.
I hope you change the world.
[1] how would it work; why would people care to get involved; execution/implementation issues; fraud; ...
[2] something between RSA tokens and dedicated mobile voting machines
[3] probably centuries