Liquid democracy

From InstaGov
Revision as of 15:08, 28 March 2013 by Woozle (talk | contribs) (purpose; note about liquid agenda)
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About

Purpose

Existing democratic systems have systemic problems.

Liquid democracy is intended to address these issues by creating a system that minimizes UCPs while respecting expertise and allowing delegation of decisions.

Definition

Liquid democracy is a term that seems to be used in a number of different ways.

InstaGov defines it as any democratic system designed to:

  • give citizens control over how power is channelled
  • rapidly respond to changes requested by those citizens
  • not draw arbitrary boundaries, either in time or space, beyond which power may not be exercised

The combination of power-channelling control, rapid response, and lack of arbitrary boundaries – directable, changeable, and fluid – is what makes a democratic system "liquid".

Implementation

InstaGov proposes weighted proxy voting (WPV) within a liquid agenda system as the primary mechanism for liquid democracy, with other supplemental mechanisms to encourage better decisionmaking.

InstaGov also supports liquid representation as an alternative to WPV, if it has a better chance of being adopted.