Direct representative democracy basics: The communications engine

At the closest level of direct representation lies the relationship between a citizen and his representative. It is important for citizens to have knowledge of those who offer solutions to political problems. This begins with allowing everyone offering solutions to political problems to reach all other citizens who are interested in such ideas and justify their capacity to accomplish them.

A communications engine is the most basic element of a direct representative democracy, as it is through communication that politics function. The capacity to reach individuals is the most accurate measurement of political power. It should be accessible not through a single channel but rather needs to be able to reach all those who want to be reached. Will alone should be sufficient to generate political dynamic. The engine should therefore provide the capacity to filter out elaborate criteria to help understand the broadcasted communications. Artificial intelligence will be able to provide that in about a decade. By reaching all citizens, political power would be accessible to everyone and function as a dynamic social system, rather than a passive and enclosed institution.

At its first iteration, the communications engine should take the form of a Web site. Driven by Web application dynamics, the Web can now provide powerful communications tools. A most fundamental aspect would be to provide the capacity for citizens who offer ideas to be heard in an intelligent environment. The application needs to reference knowledge whenever applicable, known information otherwise.

At its basics are 2 types of citizens: executive and legislative. Executive take direct action and pursue decision-making. They would be either representatives or work in a networked decision-making system. Legislative citizens would give ascent or rebuttal to policies. Legislative citizens would judge and comment on formulated policies. Executive citizens would actively develop policies and present ideas and projects. Legislative citizens could choose to have their will represented, unless they veto their voice, by an executive citizen. Most legislative citizens would therefore select a representative to thrust on most votes.

Candidates would start by providing basic facts about their ideas, their intentions and the justifications for their capacity to accomplish the projects they propose. A simple array of texts, videos and presentations would already provide a toolkit several orders of magnitude better than the conventional political campaign dynamic of rhetoric and filtered communication. A minimum number of standard characteristics need to be provided in order to allow intelligent matching between the will of citizens and the candidates' proposed ideas. This way citizens will be able to search and watch for specific issues and ideas, compare and make informed decisions.

Communication between representatives and the citizens they represent would be another major part of the engine. Representatives would be first and foremost accountable before the people who support them. Citizens would have a direct channel to question and hold accountable their representatives. It is merely a matter of synthesizing the noise to make sense of the opinions and ideas of the collectivity. Representatives would be much more useful working with citizens who inspire them. It is absurd to think a few people will be capable of solving society's problems. A much larger intelligence is required for such a task, a collective intelligence.

In a later evolution, the communications engine should be able to provide an intelligent selection system to allow a precise measurement of public opinion, broadcast ideas from those who do not want to wield political power and filter the noise for those listening in. The collective intelligence of humankind is the most powerful force known in the universe. It is strongest in a permanent communications and will provide the capacity to evolve further, a necessity in a chaotic world.