The Guardian in the UK reports on a Democratic Audit study concluding that Britain has "appeared to have moved further away from its two benchmarks of representative democracy: control over political decision-making, and how fairly the system reflects the population it represents – a principle most powerfully embedded in the concept of one person, one vote."
British democracy in terminal decline, warns report | UK news | The Guardian
I wonder whether there is an optimal size of democracy to work effectively. Is there a size that enables most people to feel in touch with their representatives and so more engaged in voting for, watching and challenging those representatives. And is there a way to manage that to feel meaningful for societies pulled by both the hyper global and the hyper local.
I imagine that technology could play a much greater role here. Not the over-consumption of gimmicks at CNN and co, but the evolving social platforms which could drive real participation back into neighborhoods and local areas; whilst enabling all to participate in national and global level debates.
I imagined that the size of Switzerland at around 7M would be a good size. It seems to survive as a country on the global platform, but hold on to very strong local identities. However, participation does not seem so great there either
Voter turnout data for Switzerland (Parliamentary) | Voter Turnout | International IDEA
British democracy in terminal decline, warns report | UK news | The Guardian
I wonder whether there is an optimal size of democracy to work effectively. Is there a size that enables most people to feel in touch with their representatives and so more engaged in voting for, watching and challenging those representatives. And is there a way to manage that to feel meaningful for societies pulled by both the hyper global and the hyper local.
I imagine that technology could play a much greater role here. Not the over-consumption of gimmicks at CNN and co, but the evolving social platforms which could drive real participation back into neighborhoods and local areas; whilst enabling all to participate in national and global level debates.
I imagined that the size of Switzerland at around 7M would be a good size. It seems to survive as a country on the global platform, but hold on to very strong local identities. However, participation does not seem so great there either
Voter turnout data for Switzerland (Parliamentary) | Voter Turnout | International IDEA
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