Interactive Democracy - Core Concepts

Core Concepts

Multi-faceted decisions
Instead of voting for politicians, which becomes a multi-faceted issue involving policies, characters and trust, Interactive democracy allows votes on single issues which may be more easily decided on.

Democracy as information processor
Each voter may be viewed as a discrete information processor making a judgement on each issue based not only on their intellect but their experience, morals, values and how the vote will affect their futures. Compared to the few hundred people involved in decisions in a parliamentary democracy, the thousands or millions of voters in interactive democracy, each with a wide diversity of life experiences, process far more information and may make much better decisions.

Security
The security of the voting system is crucial for any form of democracy but the use of information technology adds new opportunities for fraud. All of the systems that are employed in Internet banking systems are proposed to ensure security in Interactive Democracy. However, there are also concerns that personal information and voting patterns open up the system to "Big Brother" style manipulation. Proponents of ID suggest that strong regulations supported by an independent judiciary and police force will be sufficient to prevent such threats.

Costs
Proponents of Interactive Democracy believe that the use of information technology is crucial in order to control the costs of so many public votes. Once the systems are established they can be used for all levels of democracy: National, regional, local. However, there must be easy access to terminals (mobile phones or computers) for everyone in society for the system to be fair. This may involve public access through libraries but others point out that personal computer use is increasing and soon almost no one will be without access.

Media involvement
All democracies rest on the freedom of the press and this is especially true for ID. Without media involvement in reporting on proposals and votes the system may not generate enough interest and involvement from the electorate. Though ID offers the media a ready-made interactive story line, there are also issues of potential bias which may need to be legislated for.

ID and Parliament
Interactive democracy recognises the importance of parliamentary parties and government. It is seen as an extension of these political systems and recognises that government is essential for implementing new laws and policies and that parliament must oversee the system and clarify proposals so that they work as laws. However, some ID proponents do not see a role for the House of Lords.

Voting on the Web
The design of the web site on which people can cast their votes may have a large impact on the effectiveness of interactive democracy. Apart from instigating and supporting ePetitions and voting on referenda, the web site may facilitate debate in a number of ways: individuals may pose questions that others answer; they may add comments under the headings of positive, negative and interesting points; there may be calls for research; and government approved studies may be presented. The contributions made by MPs may be highlighted. The web site should also have a search facility that is unbiased and the facility to register voters complaints and suggestions for improvement. The web master must be held to account by Parliament.