Democracy, peace, & deliberation

Technology cannot fix the fact that freedom is an endless meeting, but it can make the meetings shorter and less painful with new collaborative tools and by automating the worst of the bureaucracy

In a sense, the most important decision for any group to make is how to allocate their attention. In any online discussion platform, a deliberative consensus protocol can be used to focus attention on the most informative conversation threads and on comments that stand up to scrutiny, thereby promoting deep, honest, informed, and intelligent conver... See more

Polis ensures that participants focus on the content of comments and the state of the conversation, because there are no direct conversations or interactions with other participants. Discussion on the platform in this sense happens at a distance, like an observer sitting on a park bench or standing on a balcony.

To be stable and effective, both democracy and democratic publics require people to be socially embedded in ongoing relationships rather than temporary mini-publics. Such relationships may be less efficient in the short term, so that some optimal policies remain out of reach, but they are better over time at generating political compromises that ca... See more

The work of political theorist Bernardo Zacka illuminates the importance of “in-between spaces.” Zacka’s focus is on physical spaces, such as balconies on apartment buildings that overlook the street, and how they can enable what Zacka calls a “reserved sociability” that strengthens pluralism in democratic societies. (12) When the driver of a car s... See more