Representative->Participative->Direct

Preamble -

We live in democracy (hell yeah). But what is democracy?

noun: democracy

a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

a state governed under a system of democracy.

control of an organization or group by the majority of its members.

I spy with my little eye something beginning with 'R'. Rigged? No. Ridiculous? Close, but no. Representative? Yes. We live in representative democracies. We elect people who generally have no relevant qualifications other than saying 'sure, why not?'. They go off and try their best to wade through the mud of bureaucracy for four years then they come back and say 'sure, why not?' again - having achieved sometimes very little in terms of meaningful, tangible benefit. Oft maligned and labelled liars, thieves, cronies, gangsters or chancers, I am sure these people in most cases actually believe they are best for the job and put themselves forward. This was effective before the internet, when communities had to place their trust into actual individuals to go and forward their interests. Now we have the internet however. The relevance of a system designed over 100 years ago is fading rapidly and falling behind. Just take the latest 'cabinet shake up'. The previous Minister for Justice will now be the Minister for Enterprise? These are not roles with transferable domains of knowledge surely. As always I will throw my hand up and claim complete ignorance, i do not know how it works in there or her background or what the criteria are but this does not seem like a solely merit driven decision.

The goal is to create a more engaged, informed, and participatory democracy where citizens have real input into governance and resource allocation. There is a brilliant tool called the survey and another one called sentiment analysis. There is another concept called big data. Companies can use these tools and concepts to accurately target, market and deliver things to people that they do not actually need but rather desire. However the government seems to lag behind and can only squabble over a set list of issues and approaches without ever asking for direct input. We have turned politics into a playground with political parties going around in circles over the same fixed policy parameters. Hence ridiculous. Not very practical or progressive. The people are asked to vote only directly on changes to specific lines in articles and constitutions with relatively no input on broader policy directions or even decisions at a local level.

Core System:

• Government-issued restricted phones for all citizens, with data paid for

• App that allows citizens to engage in polls (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) based on issue complexity

• Anonymous discussion forums where issues can be discussed and aggregate up from local to national level

• Budget simulator where citizens can experiment with tax rates, spending, and see impacts on resources

• Decisions and resources aggregate up through community levels (township → city → region → province → country)

Key Features:

• Universal access through government phones

• Real-time feedback on community issues

• Educational components built into the app

• Transparent resource allocation

• Direct citizen involvement in budgeting

• Integration of corporate resources for social good

The system is considered for Ireland due to:

• Small population size

• Well-defined community structures

• Existing township system

• Manageable scale for implementation

There could be some mechanism for ensuring people read up on what they are voting for when it comes to bigger ticket issues so that they understand the implications. this could be achieved through technology again, a summarised/abbreviated online pamphlet which outlines the options available or the situation at hand. there would probably need to be some sort of mini testing procedure to ensure people understand what theyre casting a vote for before they actually cast it. following on from that there would need to be a quota filled and time allocated out of the working day etc. I believe people would welcome a respite from work to actually have a say in how their system is run though,

Thanks for reading.