Can Technology save Democracy? (part 1)
“Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.”
Now that we are 100 days into the Trump administration
and witnessing the most unpopular Presidency in 50 years, many are probably wondering, "How did we get here?" More specifically, why were we forced into an election between the two most polarizing Presidential candidates in modern memory? Also, how is it that our electoral process keeps sending Congressional incumbents back to Washington despite abysmal approval ratings?
We've made the case before that our electoral process is deeply flawed due to gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the Electoral College. But, what's the solution? There is no incentive for the ruling party to change a system that has brought it to power, so is it even reasonable to expect politicians to push for major electoral reform?
Perhaps there is an alternative approach. Given that technology is disrupting everything from education, transportation, healthcare, and even our love lives, is it possible that we could use 21st century technology to redesign our 18th century electoral process?
Pia Mancini seems to think so, and her 2014 TED Talk lays out a compelling case on how an open source software can revolutionize democracy. At this point, we invite the reader to watch the full video above before continuing to the discussion below. Don't worry, we'll wait.
Although Ms. Mancini's argument is intriguing, we have identified some key shortcomings in the current DemocracyOS platform that need enhancement before this can become a truly disruptive tool. We consider these the four key pillars to the potential success of this platform, and will recommend specific technological innovations in a follow-up post.
Pillar #1 - Authenticity
Russian bots are everywhere! How do we know for certain that each user account is connected to a real human being? Given what we witnessed with the 2016 election, the platform needs to have a rigorous set of security protocols and safeguards to ensure that a single vote is being cast by a single human being. In its current form, DemocracyOS user accounts are created with nothing more than an email address, which makes it highly vulnerable to political hacking.
Pillar #2 - Transparency
Even if we know for certain that a vote was cast by a real human, how can we feel confident that the vote count was properly tallied? After all, this causes worry in our current system, given that many states digitize votes cast in the ballot box before forwarding them to a central system for compilation. How can we overcome this critical weakness, to guarantee that users on the platform can be confident that their votes will arrive unaltered?
Pillar #3 - Information Asymmetry
Assuming that one can develop a rigorous and secure method for allowing a voter to cast a ballot via smartphone app, how would said voter have enough knowledge to make an informed decision? After all, legislative language is written by lawyers and lobbyists, is extremely esoteric, and is often intentionally misleading. How would the system summarize all of the complexity in a given bill for the benefit of a general audience, without losing the important nuances of policy?
Pillar #4 - Accountability
Finally, if we've successfully created a single account for a real voter, given him sufficient information to make a knowledgeable vote on a particular piece of legislation, then accurately and transparently tallied the votes, what happens next? In our current system of government...nothing. As Pia Mancini pointed out, there is no motivation for legislators to vote in accordance with the whims of their constituents, especially given the high incentive to side with the special interest groups, lobbyists, and party bosses who are financing their campaigns.
To Be Continued...
...in our next post, when we will speak more about these four pillars, offering specific technical (and political) solutions to each. We assure you, dear reader, that there are grounds for optimism.