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#decisionmaking

1 post1 participant0 posts today

#AbrahamLincoln: "#democracy is #government of the #people - by the #people - for the #people"

but #democracy is not perfect per default, it needs constant #reform to become better and better (not worse and worse how it was made by (#financial #taxavoiding #lobbyists and other #lobbyists = #corruption)

how to reform democracy? a #conversationwithai: #deepseek

<think>
Alright, I'm trying to figure out how to reform #democracy so that decisions are made faster and are more competent, while also reducing incompetence and corruption. This is a big question because democracy as it stands has a lot of #issues, but it's still considered one of the better systems out there <- read this?

First off, I know that one of the main problems with democracies is that #decisionmaking can be #slow, especially in #large #countries.

There are so many #checks and #balances that sometimes it feels like nothing gets done.

So maybe making decisions faster requires #streamlining some processes.

But how? Maybe reducing #bureaucracy or changing how legislation is passed?

Another issue is #incompetence. I've seen elected officials who don't seem to have the right skills or knowledge for their roles. <- this #AI has seen things!

How can we ensure that #leaders are actually #competent?

Perhaps through better #education #requirements, or maybe having #experts in certain fields advise them more #effectively.

#Corruption is another huge #Problem seems like #money plays a big role in #politics, which can lead to decisions that favor #donors over the people.

#Campaign #finance #reform might help here, but I'm not sure how feasible that is given current laws and court rulings, especially in places like the #US with #CitizensUnited.

#Voter #engagement is also a factor.

If more people participate, maybe there's more #accountability.

But getting people to vote when they feel their votes don't matter is tough.

Maybe changing voting systems, like ranked-choice voting, could make elections feel more representative and increase turnout.

I've heard about #sortition, where #random #citizens are #selected for #decisionmaking bodies.

That might bring in diverse perspectives and reduce corruption since the average person isn't as beholden to special interests.

But would people take it seriously? I'm not sure how effective that would be compared to elected officials.

#Technology could play a role too.

Maybe using #online #platforms for #participatory #budgeting or #policy #discussions.

It could make #government more #transparent and involve citizens more #directly.

However, there's the risk of #misinformation and #manipulation online.

#Term #limits are another idea.

They might prevent politicians from becoming too entrenched and corrupt, but they can also limit institutional knowledge and lead to a #revolvingdoor of #inexperienced #leaders.

#Anticorruption agencies seem necessary, but they need to be #independent and well #funded.

If they're controlled by the government, they won't be effective.

How do you ensure their independence?

#Media #literacy is important because if people are #better #informed, they can make #better #decisions at the #ballotbox.

But with so much #misinformation out there, improving media literacy is a big challenge.

I'm also thinking about proportional representation.

Maybe switching to a system where more parties have seats could lead to more diverse and representative governments, reducing gridlock.

But it might also make forming a government harder if no single party has a majority.

What about making voting mandatory?

It increases turnout but can also lead to people voting without being informed, which doesn't necessarily improve the quality of decisions.

Another thought is focusing on #local #governance.

If more decisions are made at the local level where people can be more involved and informed, it might lead to #better #outcomes #overall.

But not all issues can be handled locally; some require national or international coordination.

I'm also considering how #education plays into this.

Better #civic #education could make voters more informed and engaged.

It starts from a young age teaching about #government #structures, #roles, and the importance of #participation.

#Transparency is key too.

If governments are more open about their processes and decisions, trust might increase. Things like #FOIA requests in the U.S. help, but they can be slow and sometimes
incomplete.

#Incentivizing #good #governance through awards or recognition might motivate leaders to perform better, but it's not a sure fix for deeper systemic issues.

Encouraging #whistleblowers is important because they can expose #corruption before it becomes entrenched.

Protecting them legally would make others more willing to come forward.

Public-private partnerships could bring in expertise from the private sector, but there's a risk of corporate influence if not managed properly.

Inclusive decision-making ensures that all groups have a voice, which leads to more equitable policies.

It requires active efforts to involve marginalized communities.

Independent judiciaries are crucial because they can check the other branches and enforce laws against corruption.

But judicial appointments can be politicized, which undermines their independence.

Finally, cultural shifts towards valuing integrity over power might help reduce corruption. But changing a culture is slow and difficult, especially in large, diverse societies.

Putting all these thoughts together, it seems like reforming democracy requires a multi-faceted approach addressing both structural issues and cultural factors. It's not just about tweaking one part but making comprehensive changes that promote competence, transparency, and accountability while ensuring representation and reducing corruption.

</think>
Reforming democracy to enhance decision-making efficiency, competence, and reduce corruption involves a multifaceted approach that addresses both structural and cultural aspects of
governance. Here is an organized strategy based on the thought process:

### Structural Reforms
1. **Streamline Decision-Making Processes:**
- Reduce bureaucratic layers and adopt more agile legislative processes to accelerate decision-making without compromising thorough consideration.

2. **Campaign Finance Reform:**
- Implement strict regulations on campaign contributions and promote public financing of elections to diminish the influence of money in politics.

3. **Proportional Representation:**
- Introduce proportional representation systems to ensure diverse representation, which can lead to more inclusive and efficient governance.

4. **Term Limits:**
- Enact term limits for elected officials to prevent entrenchment, while ensuring mechanisms for knowledge retention and smooth transitions.

5. **Independent Anti-Corruption Agencies:**
- Establish independent bodies with strong investigative and prosecutorial powers to combat corruption effectively.

### Enhancing Competence
1. **Expert Advisory Bodies:**
- Integrate expert panels in decision-making processes to provide informed guidance on complex issues.

2. **Civic Education:**
- Improve education systems to foster informed voters through civic engagement and critical thinking skills.

3. **Sortition (Citizen Juries):**
- Experiment with sortition to involve diverse citizen perspectives, enhancing
representativeness and reducing corruption risks.

### Reducing Corruption
1. **Transparency Measures:**
- Increase government transparency through open data initiatives, accessible meetings, and robust freedom of information laws.

2. **Whistleblower Protection:**
- Strengthen legal protections for whistleblowers to encourage the exposure of corruption without fear of retribution.

3. **Judicial Independence:**
- Ensure the judiciary is independent and impartial, free from political influence, to uphold rule of law and check executive power.

### Voter Engagement and Participation
1. **Voting System Reforms:**
- Adopt ranked-choice voting and proportional representation to ensure votes count more meaningfully and increase voter satisfaction.

2. **Compulsory Voting:**
- Consider mandatory voting with incentives for informed voting, potentially reducing apathy and increasing political engagement.

3. **Participatory Budgeting:**
- Involve citizens in budget decisions through digital platforms to foster transparency and accountability.

### Technological Integration
1. **Digital Platforms:**
- Utilize technology for participatory governance, enabling real-time public input on policies and fostering informed discussions.

2. **Media Literacy Programs:**
- Launch initiatives to combat misinformation, promoting a better-informed electorate capable of discerning credible sources.

### Cultural Shifts
1. **Incentivizing Good Governance:**
- Recognize and reward ethical leadership through awards or public acknowledgment to promote integrity in governance.

2. **Cultural Values:**
- Foster societal norms that prioritize transparency, accountability, and integrity, encouraging leaders to adhere to high ethical standards.

### Conclusion
Reforming democracy requires a comprehensive approach that combines structural changes with cultural shifts. By streamlining processes, enhancing
competence through education and expertise, reducing corruption through transparency and independent oversight, and engaging citizens more
effectively, democracies can become more responsive, efficient, and just. This multifaceted strategy aims to rebuild trust in governance and ensure
decisions truly reflect the will of the people.

Continued thread

#deciding 🧵

Victor Shih argues that the multiple pathways to #power were incentives for policy innovation: a way for would-be top leaders to get noticed, and thus promoted.
#Xi calling most of the shots creates incentives for mid-level cadres to sit on their hands, and wait for signals from Xi himself. Hence a disastrous about-face on Zero Covid - no one could change anything until Xi told them to, and then they rushed to lift almost all restrictions.

Replied in thread

@offby1

Thanks for this.

While not as pithy as the article you posted, I found this one 3 or 4 years ago and have re-read it a few times.

It helps provide a bit perspective when I get into "burn it all down mode" on some of my projects. Or, conversely, when I see myself being curmudgeonly resistant to some new practice. YMMV

fs.blog/chestertons-fence/

Farnam Street · Chesterton’s Fence: A Lesson in ThinkingA core component of making great decisions is understanding previous decisions. If we don’t understand how we got “here,” we run the risk of making things much worse.
Continued thread

2/3
Governance concept for online communities [5]:

- exit (e.g. #HelloQuitX or fork a FOSS project)

vs

- #AffectiveVoice - consultation in #DecisionMaking

vs

- #EffectiveVoice - participation in #DecisionMaking

Corollary: providing the conceptual tools and empirical evidence about how online governance can evolve away from implicit feudalism and towards effective voice could have *huge* local and global sociopolitical benefits. Cyberspace has real sociopolitical power in the 2020s.

🔔 New Essay 🔔

"The Intelligent AI Coin: A Thought Experiment"

Open Access here: seanfobbe.com/posts/2025-02-21

Recent years have seen a concerning trend towards normalizing decisionmaking by Large Language Models (LLM), including in the adoption of legislation, the writing of judicial opinions and the routine administration of the rule of law. AI agents acting on behalf of human principals are supposed to lead us into a new age of productivity and convenience. The eloquence of AI-generated text and the narrative of super-human intelligence invite us to trust these systems more than we have trusted any human or algorithm ever before.

It is difficult to know whether a machine is actually intelligent because of problems with construct validity, plagiarism, reproducibility and transferability in AI benchmarks. Most people will either have to personally evaluate the usefulness of AI tools against the benchmark of their own lived experience or be forced to trust an expert.

To explain this conundrum I propose the Intelligent AI Coin Thought Experiment and discuss four objections: the restriction of agents to low-value decisions, making AI decisionmakers open source, adding a human-in-the-loop and the general limits of trust in human agents.

@histodons @politicalscience

seanfobbe.com · [Essay] The Intelligent AI Coin: A Thought Experiment
More from Seán Fobbe
Continued thread

@europesays @labplot@lemmy.kde.social @dataisbeautiful

Simply asking two primary questions to guide any analysis will lead to a better understanding of variation and more effective decision making:

1️⃣ Is the process currently stable?
2️⃣ Based on this knowledge, what type of action makes sense?

👉 healthleadsusa.org/wp-content/

In this paper Thomas Nolan, Rocco J. Perla and Lloyd Provost explain why correctly assessing #variation is fundamental to sound decisions.

Continued thread

verywellmind.com/integrity-ver
Did You Know? People tend to feel happier and more contentment when they could have their needs met throughout their life!

Stunning revelation. If only we could redistribute excess hoards of wealth back to most people!
We could start giving to people in abject poverty or 'absolute poverty'.
Then we could keep adding to people in abject poverty and people in asset poverty. (Asset poverty means someone could not sell enough assets to cover 3 months of expenses.)
Then we could keep adding to people in abject, asset, and relative poverty. And so on.

endpovertynowinc.org/blog/6-di

Verywell MindHow People Develop a Sense of Integrity vs. DespairIntegrity vs. despair is the eighth and final stage of psychosocial development. Learn about the impact of this stage that occurs during the final years of life.

You ever just sit and think about decisions you have to make in the future and wonder to yourself, are they drastic? Are they right? Are they wrong? Will they affect just you? Will they affect others? Will you regret the decision(s) you make, regardless if they feel right to you?

Surely that's not something that is just a me issue and that I'm struggling with currently.

The Telecommuting Trolley Problem

Imagine you're on a virtual track, seated comfortably in your home office. The "trolley" is actually a massive email spamming campaign aimed at promoting an overhyped, yet entirely unnecessary productivity app. There's a lever beside your keyboard—pull it, and the campaign diverts to a group of coworkers who are exceptionally sensitive to productivity apps, promising to cause an office-wide meltdown with their reactions.

Path 1: Pull the Lever
You opt to redirect the email campaign to your coworkers. As predicted, their office is soon inundated with frantic calls, emails, and an overwhelming amount of "I'm calling IT!" messagings. The IT department is swamped with tickets like never before, and productivity takes a nosedive for days. Yet, in your quiet home office, your inbox remains blissfully unaffected. A serene smile spreads across your face as you sip your coffee, unmoved by the chaos you unleashed.

Path 2: Don't Pull the Lever
Choosing to do nothing, you let the campaign proceed as planned. Soon enough, your inbox is flooded with an endless stream of spam emails. Your email client crashes repeatedly, and your phone is constantly pinging with notifications. The stress levels are through the roof, and your peace of mind is shattered faster than a dropped coffee cup. Meanwhile, the office remains blissfully ignorant of the calamity narrowly avoided, continuing their productive lives without interruption.

“Currently, #Internet companies collect #data about where we go #online and use this data to present us with #ads (#advertisements) or other #content we may be interested in. Dr. #YaqubChaudhary and Dr #JonniePenn, working out of #Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence #LCFI, have identified startling new ways #AI is seeking to control our #DecisionMaking at the earliest possible steps.”

Neat and tidy. Finally a use for AI as a power guzzling bullshit machine for advertising. Don’t get, “grabbed by your Norbots” 🤣

#AI / #IntentionEconomy / #Techweenies <thedebrief.org/tech-companies->