[EM] The structuring of power and the composition of norms by communicative assent

[Juho Laatu]

--- On Fri, 23/1/09, Kristofer Munsterhjelm <km-elmet at broadpark.no> wrote:

> Juho Laatu wrote:
> >>   d) voting on laws, too
> > 
> > I read this as allowing individual
> > voters to vote directly too, without
> > any proxies between them and the
> > decisions (on laws and on anything).
> > 
> > Quite OK but I have some concerns
> > on what will happen in the tax
> > raise questions. It is possible that
> > the society would spend more than
> > save.
> > 
> > One could set some limits on the
> > number of levels. One could e.g.
> > allow only proxies with n votes to
> > vote in certain questions. Use of
> > hysteresis could help making the
> > role of proxies of different levels
> > clear (last minute decisions or
> > alternative direct and proxy votes
> > would be more complex).
> > 
> > The proxy systems may allow (also
> > for other reasons) different proxies
> > or direct voting to be used for
> > different questions.
> 
> Some idea of what this would lead to can be gathered from
> states with initiative and referendum, where the citizenry
> can force a referendum or the passing of a law. It seems to
> work in the United States states that have them, and also in
> Switzerland, though the circumstances there are more
> complex.
> 
> On the other hand, one could argue that the signature
> requirements to start the referendum process constitutes a
> form of hysteresis: because starting the process requires
> some effort, the system won't oscillate wildly.
> 
> The real trick is to find the balance between something
> that oscillates and something that doesn't respond at
> all - and that's not a problem that's particular to
> politics, but appears in various guises in all kinds of
> systems involving feedback. Set the PID controller wrong and
> it's off to hunting land...

Yes, that's the target, to find a balance
where the problems don't destroy the
benefits of the system. That could mean
balancing between representative and
direct democracy, speed of changes,
conditions on when to allow direct
decisions, complexity etc.

Juho