Direct Democracy (and eParticipation) - Opportunities and Limits
While the history of direct democracy dates back to the ancient Greek and Athens, in 2013 most democracies are represantative democracies, that only occasionaly resort to letting the citizens decide on specific issues direclty.
While a direct democracy comes closest to the ideal of a society made of equals, that all participate, decide and try to foster the greater good, this form of government also comes with many issues.
eParticipation, thanks to the rise of the internet and new technologies, could provide a big push for enabling direct democracy and active citizenship in a modern society.
In this session I would give a very short introduction of the history of democracy, show some examples of successes and failures of direct democracy (for example in Switzerland or California), and then SPEND MOST OF THE TIME DISCUSSING pros and cons of direct democracy to share our experiences, views and perspectives on the subject.
Possible discussion topics:
What possibilites does eParticipation provide?
Is direct democracy a practical concept?
Is the average human to gullable/lazy/disinterested to be a proper citizen?
What are the risks of direct democracy?