On Internet Polling and Politics

There is an article on theverge.com about a computer science professor, Jeremy Hansen, running for a state senate seat in Vermont. His platform is, on it's most basic level, a promise of direct democracy. What's interesting is how he plans on implementing direct democracy.

While details on Hansen's plans are sparse, the gist is that he'll use online polling to determine what his constituents want and take that information with him into the Senate sessions. He also is promising a "recall contract" in which he would immediately step down if his constituents felt that he was not accurately representing them.

There are a lot of interesting aspects to this idea. Direct representation has been floating around for a long time and I like the idea of using online polling to implement it. I think if it's done well it can be a great way to make sure that the wishes of his constituents are being properly voiced in the state senate.

Obviously there are pitfalls that would have to be dealt with. Security is always a concern, but we have relatively secure banking and email systems (as long as people are careful with their passwords and other private information) so it can be done securely. Another possible pitfal is access; we're dealing with this as a nation to some extent already. If online polling is going to be an important method of political participation then we have to redouble our efforts to provide low-cost broadband access to everyone.

I hope this political campaign goes somewhere and that we can start working the kinks out of a system that can make our state and local government more responsive. I hope Hansen's methods can call people's attention back to the branches of our political system that have immediate effects on their lives. Most of all, I hope our government as a whole can become more responsive to the needs of it's constituents and to the rapidly changing tech world.

 

Andrew

 

Reading:

 

Little Fuzzy, H. Beam Piper. Complete

Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay. Page 10/676