Micro Democracy

In the political arena, human steps are not only inefficient but have always been prone to corruption. It is conceivable that replacing manual operations and outworn conventions with automated, intelligent democratic autonomous procedures would dramatically improve the efficiency and transparency of policymaking. More importantly, people’s wills would affect political decisions more directly, so politics could better serve social justice and public interests, bringing more harmony and satisfaction to society. This vision seemed out of reach, but the developments in the economic domain have proven that once conditions are ripe, the pace of change can extend beyond the imagination.

Before designing a new system, it is necessary to diagnose the old ones for their defects and causes, so as to prescribe the proper medicine. However, criticism is not the intent of this book. G. W. F. Hegel once proposed that “what is reasonable is real; that which is real is reasonable,”2 which is often misinterpreted for justifying the unjust status quo. Despite deception and malice, this logic is not entirely unreasonable. Every long-lived political system, be it fair, advanced, perfect, or the opposite, has to be a reasonable product of the times and environments. If social material conditions and culture remain unchanged, to thoroughly transform a stable political system would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. For example, we should not lightly judge and criticize the slavery system in ancient Egypt by today’s human rights and moral standards, ignoring the productivity and social reality of those times. Similarly, despite the flaws in contemporary democracy systems, we should first put them into the circumstances of their golden age, evaluate them fairly, and appreciate their superiority in their historical context. However, since the world is undergoing fundamental changes in this new era, the reform of the political system becomes the natural call of our time. It is morally righteous, feasible in implementation, and even the inevitable.

Before I started writing this book, these ideas had emerged in my mind for years. This long delay was out of laziness but also humbleness. As historical trends and solutions are so evident, academics and social activists could not possibly miss them. If they were to make proposals, it would be more convincing and appealing. Regrettably, comparable theories have been shy to emerge. There once was some similar thinking, but people gave up easily upon encountering some obvious obstacles. That being the case, I can only guess that certain experiences and qualifications have given me unique opportunities and perspectives to bring politics, business, and technology together into new conceptions. As a witness of tremendous social shifts, a world-traveling observer, and a practitioner who has contributed to the information transformations, I am convinced that the “micro-democracy” to be introduced in this book is the ultimate solution this era awaits. With the help of modern information technology, every member of an open society will be able to participate directly in the decision-making of every public affair, exercise his/her share of power in full, independently, and unconditionally. The smallest units of a democratic society, citizens, will be able to directly operate the tiniest units of democratic decision-making, issues.

Micro-democracy is hence named.

The origin of the micro-democracy theory can be traced back to the ancient “direct democracy,” compared to the “indirect democracy,” or the “representative democracy,” that dominates today. Although the rules of direct democracy, that people decide on issues directly, are rather fair and straightforward, its operability declines sharply with an increase in the number of people and an expansion of territory. Thus, it has never been adopted in modern nations. While the processes of representative democracy, that people elect representatives to decide for them, are complicated with many hidden loopholes, at least it is feasible to execute in large-scale society, makes it today’s mainstream political structure. However, as new information and communication technologies have evolved, the problems once preventing the implementation of direct democracy have been solved one by one, and most of those solutions have been well-proven in commercial activities.

In the micro-democracy theory, direct democracy is only the foundation. Superstructures, such as human rights, the social welfares, society diversity coexistence mechanisms, and civilization evolution mechanisms, are in truth its core values whose impacts are more farther-reaching. Micro-democracy is not a tinkering of isolated issues, but an integrated social system and a total solution to many ills of today’s political systems. Utilitarianism3 is the final pursuit of this design; the goal is maximal overall happiness of the entire society, with fairness and openness as its guiding principles.

As the saying goes, “the devil is hidden in the details.” This applies to the design and engineering of information systems, and it is no exception to the political system. As an example, Karl Marx’s communist theory once brought people a fascinating concept and grand blueprint. However, due to his early death or neglect of details of reality, too many hollows in the foundation of this splendid castle ultimately led to its final collapse. It is a common problem of many political scholars who are good at piecing together selected cases to prove their theory afterward, rather than presenting realistic foresight and guidelines beforehand. In particular, lack of specific, actionable execution plans causes the difficulty of imposing direct and substantial influences over the actual social operations. In avoiding such mistakes, this book not only discusses the concepts and principles of the new system but also pays special attention to the details at the operational level, trying to prevent micro-democracy from becoming just “another fantasy.” Moreover, comprehending and accepting this theory still requires fertile imagination and an open mind. I eagerly invite readers to put aside all prejudices, explore this idea in totality, and act together for a better world in the name of people’s happiness and welfare.