Digital Demarchy

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Demarchy is, basically, a democratic system of governance in which decisions are made by a randomly-selected group of the population. This process, called sortition[1], is similar to the process for jury duty selection, to name an example. Demarchy is a theoretical alternative to representational democracy, such as Student Senate.

The digital demarchy takes these theories and places them in a society in which (nearly) every member of the society can be contacted easily and quickly. Knox is such a place.

A Knox Digital Demarchy[edit]

or, Replacing Student Senate With a Computer.

For each decision that would typically be voted on by the Senate, a computer program would send emails to a randomly-selected group of Knox students, whose duty it would be to vote. The result will be a statistically accurate representation of the student body's opinion.

There would need to be someone in charge of operating the computer program and handling petitions for resolution, but this position should not have discretion and be largely procedural.

Why this system could work at Knox[edit]

There are severals reasons why this governing solution would not work in a large society. But it could fit well at Knox.

  • The vast majority of students use email and could respond with somewhat expediency
  • The campus is small enough that the average student is well-informed about issues on campus and could make a reasoned decision
  • Hell, it couldn't be WORSE than Senate, amirite?? lawlz...

Student forums (of all kinds, set up and moderated by all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons) can hash out opinions on issues with gusto. After all, winning over the majority of campus opinion would be necessary to influence a vote. Currently, only the opinions of those on Student Senate matter, leaving many feeling hopeless and voiceless. Student media would also have a new weight as the forum of student opinion becomes more important in the passing of initiatives.

An example walkthrough[edit]

  1. Zine Club requests $300 to print next zine on scratch-n-sniff paper
  2. Club leaders put in a request to the Knox Student Digital Demarchy (KSDD), who puts it into the program to be voted on
  3. The program emails a (confidential?) ballot to a simple random sample of Knox students
  4. It is the duty of these students to vote within a reasonably amount of time (two days? two school days?)
  5. The results are made public

Why a digital demarchy would be a great Knox experiment[edit]

Why does Student Senate replicate the same representational system of democracy that has so clearly and consistently failed to adequately represent the people? Some might say that it is good practice for dealing with these broken systems once students graduate. This is by far the best answer. But is it good enough?

Knox could, instead, try something more drastic and intellectually stimulating. The tools of communication have changed, and Knox is in a position to change its student government structure accordingly.

References[edit]

  1. Sortition - Wikipedia