OPEN

Phase transition to a data-driven democracy

March 29, 2020 / maestro / Uncategorized

#coronavirus pandemic is going to trig a phase transition in our democracy. In physics, a phase transition is a sudden change in the properties of a material due to a slight change in the surrounding conditions. Like the ice melting our democracy is going to suffer a sudden change. Hopefully, it could be for good, but also the possibility of worsening is open for all of us.

The three challenges of our current democratic system

Not many changes have been introduced in our democratic systems for the last two centuries (apart from women’s vote). Thus and due to this crisis, our system had to be updated accordingly.

Current voting system is outdated

The first challenge is to be ruled by some organisations, political parties, whose survival depends not on the welfare they are able to create but on the vote of people. Unfortunately people vote with few and biased information. This kind of voting is clearly outdated. You would not like people’s vote to decide if you have to get into a medical operation. More likely you would trust more on the opinion of expert doctors. The current voting system with such biased and reduced information could lead to anything. In fact, it does. And the lack of control about what happens during the mandate years is astonishing.

Political parties are not the right organisations to run public resources

The second challenge is that the organisations in power can control mostly the information about their performance. If your survival on the cabinet depends on what is released to the public there is an unbearable temptation to hide information, to create fake news or, best case, to bias information in order to keep you in power. What could you expect if you are in an organisation whose survival depends on next elections’ results.

People, we are inherently stupid

Stupidity is this human feature to make decisions which its consequences harm oneself and those surrounding us and beyond. The third challenge current democracy is dealing with the inherent stupidity humans have. This stupidity in our decision processes could lead us to unwilling situations. A plain demonstration of human stupidity appears today when in the middle of the toughest pandemic ever suffered in EU there are people who break the quarantine because of they worth it. Everybody has a bit of a stupid even if they reach power. The abilities to get nominated and voted does not mean any filtering of such characteristic. If you think that you are not stupid is good proof that you really are and you are unaware of it.

Having said that let’s go for the solutions.

Changing the current voting system

Regarding the first challenge current voting is outdated, it is a non-sense that a political party could be voted just once every 4 years and it could do exactly the opposite what they promised during the campaign (a promise used only to win elections). Currently, everybody has a device in his/her pocket, and therefore a much more frequent sampling could be done. Not only this, but much other information about ourselves could be used (in fact big internet firms do) to provide a much better public service.

Continuous sampling of people’s interests has to be carried out by digital means together with the gathering of those data created by the interaction with public services and possibly beyond that.

Replacing political parties

Political parties can no longer be the organisations managing a country, city or whatever. Their goals are not aligned with the welfare in those in countries, cities, etc. They have to be replaced by a mixture of AI system and several councils of experts with a random process to be a member of them. Regarding these councils, qualification for becoming a member has to be public. Like popular juries attendance, it should be an obligation to attend to these councils (for a period) in order to remove bias in their work. Political parties have to be limited to the generation of laws in a parliament but their law proposals have to include an impact assessment created by made public for comments and only could be voted once collected and discussed.

Removing stupidity with AI

Why an AI system? In order to reduce dramatically the inherent stupidity of human process to make decisions. However, these systems are not perfect and need to be moderated by human councils in which some points that currently cannot be appreciated by an AI system. These councils (depending on topics) and have the right to ban AI decisions.

Separate a new power: Data power

The second point is that data about reality is heavily controlled and biased by the executive power, and mostly profiled by media which are also dependent on public subsidies coming from this power. Much remarkable transparency and accountability are required. Therefore extending the separation of powers, a new power has to be created. To be precise this power already exists but currently depends on funding and structure on executive power. This can no longer be the case if you want that actual and accurate info is presented to the public and used for public management. This power has to be the responsible entity for the data about the current situation and it has to aim to make it public as much as possible and to provide it to the executive power.

Qualify public leaders in cabinet

Although stupidity cannot be removed ignorance does. Last but not least it can no longer be sustained that while for the judicial system you need to be qualified, the same to become a civil servant, and very difficult studies and experience the skills are required, for becoming the main leader of a public entity the minor requirement is not being in jail or have been involved in a crime.

How to make the phase transition

Naturally, no single power will give up their privileges. So, this crisis could help on convincing people that we cannot be managed by the same political structures we have it 200 years ago, when there was no internet, no satellites, no air flights, no pandemics, no climate crisis and people have not a device in their pocket.

Creation of data power

Having data about reality does not mean that you can manage it or even understand it, but the opposite is even worse. Not caring about the data on reality just make you as trustful as flipping a coin. Thus a data office has to be set up in public organizations and to make it as independent as possible in funding and hierarchical dependence. This office has to become responsible for the main data in public entities and to care about that data are clean, they are made public and data are extensively used. However, unless data are standardized it will not provide results for the #AI and also it will be difficult to be accountable. Accordingly, some resources have to be allocated for this task.

AI for making decisions

Based on that, artificial intelligence systems have to be extensively used and they should help us to assess the legislative proposals coming from the legislative power. Before any law is passed an impact analysis should be carried out and their consequences and results made public.

Requirements for public managers

The only inconvenience about the minimum requirements to be in a cabinet is expected in actual public managers and political organisations. Not clear how this could be tackled without a very strong public opinion pressure. Possibly a disastrous result of the pandemic management could lead to something like that.

Just less power for political parties

And regarding political parties nothing is needed to change in their internal management but, in order to be a candidate, a much strict need for qualification and skills should be required. These skills should include experience, scientific knowledge and psychological stability. (I guess the equivalent to becoming an astronaut when you choose the best from the best).