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How the power of ideas can replace the idea of power
Maagdenhuis, 3 maart 2015
Matthijs Pontier
Problems: Unequal power distribution ◦ Net Neutrality under threat. Knowledge = Power
◦ Privacy as building block for democracy
◦ Current democratic deficit
Solutions ◦ Transparency
◦ Leaderless decision making
◦ E-democracy
◦ Examples
When people started worrying about it…
#Youth4NetNeutrality
People do not dare to speak out against the ‘higher ups’
“Hesitant to go on strike because of flexcontract”
‘Crazy ideas’ are necessary for progress
"If there is no right to privacy, there can be no true freedom of expression and opinion, and therefore, there can be no effective democracy."
Inequal power distribution is a major problem
Too much top-down
People are losing faith in democracy
Less voting, especially young people
Media and big money have big influence on ‘democratic’ process
Enrypt e-mail Enigmail
Encrypt phone RedPhone
Encrypt SMS Textsecure
Deleting something from the Internet does not exist. Be aware of what you post online.
When something is ‘free’, you are the product
The right to privacy ends
where you start representing others
Open agenda’s
Open money streams
Open decision-making
Open online classes
Open datasets (anonimized)
Open access publishing
Open source software
Open money streams
Why do we need top-down governance
When we can decide for ourselves?
Easy to participate
Increase democratic participation
Help people to have real influence
Allow large groups to organize with ideas
Voting on ideas instead of on parties or persons
Power of Ideas replace the idea of power
Over 500.000 users since 2008
Scales well, easy to translate and adapt
Used in Iceland, Estonia, Australia, USA, UK, and elsewhere
citizens.is
Better Alamance
Citizens add ideas and points for and against
Best ideas are chosen by the participants
All ideas and best points for and against them are visible at a glance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0lFd1poJfs
Points for and against are in different columns which makes it hard to argue
This encourages rational debate and helps facilitate consensus
● 3D universe of ideas that cluster together in content and context
Jon Gnarr: Comedian who critized corruption
and became mayor
of Reykjavik
Formal collaboration with the city of Reykjavík connect citizens to their representatives
Over 70.000 of 120.000 people participated
15 top ideas processed every month
476 ideas have been approved
Online participatory budgeting to improve the city of Reykjavik
Each voter has the same budget amount as the total and chooses which projects she wants to vote for
Participants learn the realities of budgeting
Don’t vote every once in a while.
Always possibility to change your vote.
Representation is voluntary.
Per moment, and per subject
Makes representation personal, implies trust
Result: Experts decide about their expertise
http://youtu.be/aIce4CvVo7I?t=2m0s
All that we do online is collected as data
This is used by big corporations to predict our behaviour and control what we see online to sell us products
We can use similar methods
to empower people democratically
AI learns about your interests and needs
Shows you what you want and need to see
Risk: Filter bubble -> Find balance
Machine translation of Your Priorities websites, allowing people who speak different languages to communicate
Enables minorities to participate
After political scandals in Estonia in 2012, grassroots organisations lead a law reform project
Ideas were gathered through Your Priorities that was installed and modified by Estonians
Over 50.000 people took part and submitted over 2000 proposals
Ideas have become Estonian law
citizens.is
@Matthijs85
Matthijs Pontier
http://motherboard.vice.com/nl/read/de-toekomst-van-democratie-volgens-matthijs-pontier-van-de-piratenpartij
https://decorrespondent.nl/514/Democratische-vernieuwing-het-kan-dus-wel/44287748076-8b91ca40
http://www.eutopiamagazine.eu/en/r%C3%B3bert-bjarnason/issue/your-priorities-icelandic-story-e-democracy
http://www.citizens.is/
http://your-priorities-preview.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIce4CvVo7I
