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January 01, 2004
e-Voting, Diebold and Collaborative Policy Creation
The Diebold electronic voting 'scandal' is yet another issue that I haven't taken quite seriously. One of the reasons is that I think voting is overrated and policy creation is underrated. My angle on the e-ization of democratic processes has everything to do with the deliberative process and not the tallies. Studious observers of the political scene have undoubtedly noted the horseracing aspects of political commentary which has left principled analysis in the lurch.
On the bright side, the rise of the fisk, in the toolset of amateur political bloviation is a very good, if sometimes nauseating thing. The interjection of hyperbole at least shows we have a passionate pulse for critically directed mental activity beyond handicapping. The problem is that while nobody seems to be spared from the distraction of the endless posturing of right and left, I can only really cite Begging To Differ as a joint blog dedicated to present views from both sides of the one dimensional spectrum. Everybody is a critic, few synthesize.
The tools of blogdom and the entire internet are not designed for, and therefore not well-suited for synthesis and collaborative consensus-building. This is the aim of XRepublic, as I have not often enough brought to the attention of myself and my readers. However I may be in a position to further the aims of the XRepublic project this year if my fortunes go as planned. Indeed, I have found an alternative way of getting development done.
So I am saying publicly that I will pursue this with a bit more vigor this year because I am convinced that the blogosphere possesses the right combination of talent and energy to make the content work. I am also convinced that Six Apart are the people who can make it happen, and it is my intent to develop the system in the context of the MT blog & what I understand of RSS. So let me email MT and get on it.
The point is not the voting system we have today. It is pitifully outdated, and we will have to let oldfolks die. I'm talking to people today who are gamers, who have no qualms about representing themselves online; people for whom online reputation and peer systems are second nature. They will make this happen, and to hell with the boomers who get off dissing the young whippersnappers.
As for security. I honestly believe that it is a tempest in a teacup.
I have not been convinced that the nation's ATM banking network has ever been compromised in any significant way. In fact, I would argue that part of the great vulnerability of electronic voting is that it wouldn't take place often enough. A single wealthy donor could assure that votes get Counterpane levels of security. And if that is not the level of security afforded international interbank transfers, then such schemes could be adopted as well. I'm never going to find out where stolen plutonuim, hijacked IPOs and diverted gold transfers at national central banks have gone. Neither are you. Nevertheless, we can establish at least that level of trust in electronic voting. It is not a question of technology. Again, an open alternative will be open-sourced together, it is just a matter of time.
In the meantime we should develop the means and wherewithal to open up policy making to distributed deliberative bodies. This is a crucial direction in establishing a functioning self-determination. I cannot emphasize how important this is, which is why I am so very conflicted about my desire to develop it in an open way. I can only assume that someone familiar and patient with making fortunes can explain the compromises necessary vis a vis licensing and Creative Commons. A system like XRepublic, designed to advance us beyond the meatspace machinations of Roberts Rules of Order, is both a necessity and a boon to the world of collaborative decision-making. Its potential ought to be available to masses...Eh. I should be able to figure out something at least as clever as a record company producer.
In the meantime, if you or anyone you know can assist in this project, I'm all ears. I'm not interested in reviewing any theoretical literature. I already know what Scott Reents has said and built. I think my solution just needs to be built, and then we'll move on from there. The vision is crystalline in my head, I only need my demiurge.
Posted by mbowen at January 1, 2004 02:40 PM
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Comments
With regard to ATM banking networks, this article points out a few of the vulnerabilities http://www.iht.com/articles/105087.htm. Despite what the article says, this isn't the biggest such case, it's just the largest one that has been publicly announced. You don't hear much about the really big ATM and EFT thefts because, frankly, the banks would rather that you not know.
Posted by: Marc Ramsey at January 1, 2004 09:49 PM
Yes, I understand that. But the same is true of voter fraud and disenfranchisement. There has been and cannot be justice for voters once the election is over, and because of that we have alternate routes to determine elections as a backup plan.
I am more concerned, however, and getting citizens to understand that which is more important: the process of legislation itself. Voting is incredibly simple and doesn't happen that often. It is not as powerful as consumerism if you ask me. XR will allow ordinary folks to extend their democratic participation to the kinds of things congressional reps do. It will allow them to participate in markup. It is a do-it-yourself parliament.
I believe that once this happens, people will better understand the kind of skills necessary in a legislator and will therefore be more inclined to vote for such people. Furthermore it will encourage them to look more closely at the congressional record and the text of bills in various stages of completion. It will help them to understand how congressional staffers and lobbyists work influences law. I think that is more important than chasing down voter fraud. After all, what have those who hate Bush done to criticise Republican congressional legislation? Nothing.
Posted by: Cobb at January 2, 2004 09:51 AM
XR is an interesting concept; I'd like to see some grass-roots policy think tanks pick up the idea and run with it. I don't see John Q. Citizen becoming a policy wonk and getting into the nuts and bolts of developing good policy, but certainly the Internet as a communications/information sharing delivery channel means that such think tanks can be virtual and not limited by geography. Asynchronous approaches take time out of the equation.
Where I think I disagree with your apparent approach is how blogs fit into the picture. I don't think that they do. They are too ideosyncratic (sp?) to really support true collaborative undertakings. At the same time, I do recognize that some of the technology used to create blogs can be used and there is a place for syndication (RSS) in the mix.
Maybe in a couple of years, blog software will be feature-rich enough to be put to use in this sort of application. For now, it is really primative with respect to collaboration and information sharing.
Posted by: Ward Bell at January 2, 2004 03:28 PM
I think that blogs are a great place for individuals to clarify their own thinking and are natural aggregators for like minds. The Bear Flag League, which is kind of a unique and unexpected result of political blogging can be thought of as a partisan group of conservative Californians.
It is the creation of partisan groups that is a big part of XRepublic. One aspect of the system (which I was just discussing with a collaborator) is the notion of affinity searches. If you were on the wonk path, you would likely perform affinity searches to help you create partisan groups.
XR depends a lot on the willingness of wonks to do their work of gathering people to their cause. It is not clear that the blogosphere does any such thing despite the existence of the Bear Flag League and observable preferences in blogrolls. (Conservatives almost always have Instapundit, Volokh & LGF, Liberals almost always have Atrios, TPM & Yglesias) Whereas the blogosphere encourages the wonky to talk a lot, XR would encourage them to link a lot.
The use of trackback which encourages me somewhat.
But I am fairly certain that getting some of the top bloggers involved in XR would assure its success, even if its just rehashing of comments already made. There are certain documents that stand on their own.
I happen to think that writers like DenBeste, DeLong or Orcinus who tend towards the exhaustive, would fare very well as crafters of artifacts that would be long-lived and well referenced in an XRepublic. I also think that the more sophisticated reputation management system would be attractive to the egos of the blogosphere.
At the very least, even those who do not participate on a regular basis would find it useful to have some of their verbiage RSS'd into various XR artifacts, and I can definitely see bloggers having a sidebar of their blog with links to resolutions which include their works as referents.
Both XR and the blogosphere compliment each other. I hope I can exploit their synergy.
Posted by: Cobb at January 5, 2004 06:19 PM