Proposed by D. O’Connor
Date: 29/04/11
Whereas the Internet allows a much greater degree of participatory democracy then was possible before, because everyone can equally and easily contribute to the debate and it makes the logistics of voting much simpler.
Whereas representative democracy in any form lends itself to corruption and debate over personalities rather then ideas.
Whereas Internet based decision making doesn’t have the costs, inflexibility and inconvenience of traveling to meetings or conventions.
Whereas some people may be intimidated by using computers and the Internet, many more people are intimidated speaking in front of groups.
Whereas a few people may not have access to a computer and the Internet at home almost everyone has free access from a library, far more people don’t have the time or money to travel to meetings
Whereas a conventions and meetings can only occur periodically, resulting in delayed decision making, poor accountability and forces much to be delegated. Internet allows continuous discussion and voting which means debates can have more depth and people can take more time to consider their arguments, yet because discussion is ongoing, decisions can be made faster without the need to wait until meetings or conventions.
Be it resolved that the party establish an Internet site where all members can discuss and vote on policy, elect people for positions and make other decisions for the party.
And that once established, the decisions made by members on this website be declared the highest body of the party.
Discussion:
It is generally accepted that the printing press was the enabling technology for the democracy we have now, such as it is. I believe that the Internet is the enabling technology for Socialism. Previous attempts at large scale Socialism have failed, falling into totalitarianism as their leaders become corrupt. The Internet allows for a much greater control by the grassroots and minimizes the need for leaders to make unilateral decisions. Democracy can become an everyday occurrence rather then once every few years.
I am a member of the Pirate Party of Canada and it has been successful making all its decisions online, primarily using IRC meetings. IRC allows real time discussion on the Internet. It solves the problem of geography, but requires people to be available at the same time. What I propose will allow people to go on at any time to discuss and vote on the issues facing the party.
