"Liquid Democracy combines the advantages of Direct Democracy and Representative Democracy and creates a truly democratic voting system that empowers voters to either vote on issues directly, or to delegate ones voting power to a trusted party" [1]
Problems and Purpose
Currently, democratic institutions that have remained relatively unchanged for centuries are unable to meet today's major challenges, and the way they function is frustratingly incompatible with the way the world currently works.
The purpose of liquid democracy is to provide a new way, one that harnesses existing technology, overcomes all of the glaring deficiencies in current democracies, and elegantly satisfies all of the interests of all the citizens. Through delegation, people with domain-specific knowledge are able to better influence the outcome of decisions, which in turn leads to an overall better governance of the state. Because of this, Liquid Democracy naturally evolves into a Meritocracy, where decisions are mainly made by those who have the kind of knowledge and experience required to make well-informed decisions on issues.
The two concerns that some people impulsively have; the risk of mob psychology/hysteria creating irrational legislation, and the tyranny of the majority, are easily prevented.
Origins and Development
Participant Recruitment and Selection
How it Works: Process, Interaction, and Decision-Making
Time: Voting only every term
LD enables
- Permanent, open end voting
- Voting with a deadline (ending on a due date)
- Voting with a quorum (ending once a certain approval is reached)
- Classic Voting (though the benefit of this is unclear)
Content: Current representative democracy grants voting options only for content packages (parties)
LD gives the voter the choice to cast their own vote on a bill (direct democracy) or to delegate their vote for certain themes.
Personnel: Current process limits the formulation of laws to a few people in administration and professional politicians
LD enables every voter to actively get involved in writing the bills. It follows a wiki-principle of collaborative writing in combination with proportional voting power. So every voter can introduce ideas and try to gather votes for these.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Analysis and Lessons Learned
See Also
References
[1] Schiener, Dominik (2015, Nov 23). Liquid Democracy: True Democracy for the 21st Century. Retrieved from https://medium.com/organizer-sandbox/liquid-democracy-true-democracy-for-the-21st-century-7c66f5e53b6f