this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2025
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[–] pennomi 36 points 1 week ago (13 children)

Honestly with the way the internet exists now, we might feasibly be able to do something closer to direct democracy.

But good luck convincing the people in charge to lay down their power.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Perhaps, though I’d be very concerned for mob mentality. Social media is famously reactive.

[–] pennomi 10 points 1 week ago (5 children)

No doubt. I think an easy way to counter that is to put a “deliberation” time on legislation. I’m spitballing but maybe require two votes 3 months apart, and they must both agree (otherwise there’s a third tiebreaker vote another 3 months later)? That would help kill off the flash fire effect that a viral meme can create and focus more on fixing problems that occur over a longer period of time.

I mean I’m no political scientist so I’d love to hear more about what methods are proven for direct democracy.

[–] Hagdos 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Making a second decision mandatory makes it harder to change existing laws. This can be a good thing in some cases, but not always. It increases conservatism (in that it's harder to change things).

[–] pennomi 2 points 1 week ago

No doubt. The goal is to make it harder for memes to affect the outcome of a decision.

Another way to approach it is if a supermajority votes for something, no secondary confirmation vote is required. Eg. reproductive choice would easily pass with one vote because it has such widespread support.

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