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Sunday, May 25, 2014

Hmmm, I'm not sure much would change.... could be that the system would just become even more cumbersome

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What Would Change If Politicians Wrote Laws Based on Internet Polls?
By Robert Sorokanich, May 24, 2014

A new political party, designed by software devs and engineers, is joining the race in California. If elected, PlaceAVote's Congressional candidates vow to decide on every bill based on the majority vote of their constituents—as measured via online polling. Could that sort of direct, digital democracy improve how Congress works? Would it make government more dysfunctional? (Is the latter even possible?)

On the one hand, there's something gratifyingly simple (if perhaps a bit naive) about the idea that an elected official would, I dunno, vote based on the stated desires of his or her constituents. It would provide a much more finely-honed form of representation than the current "they voted for me, which means they trust me to do what I want" system.

On the other hand, though, just because something is popular doesn't mean it's smart. (Insert tired, overplayed joke about Justin Bieber here. It's the weekend and I can't think of anything wittier. Sue me.)

And in particular, there's something unsettling about handing the governmental steering wheel over to the nebulous and unsavory group known as The Internet. This is, after all, the same Internet that gave us Reddit. And 4chan. Would you want to live in a world governed by 4chan?

So what do you think? Would you vote for a candidate whose entire mode of governing boils down to "let the internet decide"? Or would that just bring our already molasses-slow system grinding to a complete halt? Sound off in our comment section—which, by the way, is more of a constitutional monarchy than anything. [PlaceAVote via Engadget]
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PlaceAVote wants to replace politicians with internet polls
By Terrence O'Brien, May 24, 2014

Congress' approval rating sits as low as 10 percent, depending on which poll you trust. So a bunch of engineers and developers came up with a uniquely Silicon Valley solution -- replace politicians with software. We're not talking about some advanced AI, though, so don't start worrying about Skynet just yet. PlaceAVote is a simply a digital polling platform, which means there will still need to be a human being on the floor casting a vote. The first two candidates who pledge to simply vote whatever way the internet tells them are already on the ballot in California, and 20 more are supposedly on tap for 2016.

If any of those candidates win they'd then have to find a way to get a private key code out to each and every one of their constituents. That key along with a unique identifier, such as social security number would be needed to log into the PlaceAVote system, which makes security one of its biggest priorities. Of course, no system is 100 percent secure and PlaceAVote would certainly face its fair share of challenges from hackers and those looking to commit voter fraud it it enjoys even a modicum of success. The entire premise requires voters have regular access to a computer for this attempt to shoehorn direct democracy into a representative system to work, which will definitely be problematic is [i.e. "in"] poorer districts around the country. And while well intentioned there's a pretty good case against direct democracy in general; just because something is popular doesn't mean it's good (see Modern Family). In many ways having an elected representative is saving us from ourselves.
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