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Ask HN: Design a government from scratch, how would it look?

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Ask HN: Design a government from scratch, how would it look?

#1
The framework for our government was designed in the 1700's, and I can't help but think today's economic problems are a result of the historical tradition of Statism. The founding fathers implemented a government as best they could using information available at the time. It's now 2011 and we've experienced a technological revolution. If we were to design a new government using today's technology, how would it be different?

This question is both exciting and depressing. On one hand there is so much potential to improve the way humans interact and direct resources. On the other hand, it doesn't matter what solution is found, because governments exist outside any market. Steve Jobs could have designed the most brilliant Constitution of his time, but it wouldn't matter because following a new constitution would still be considered illegal.

Given I'm a dreamer, why not imagine. The weakest component of a fighter jet is the human pilot. Now we have jets without human operators. I believe the weakest component of our government is also the human. Humans experience emotions, are susceptible to bribes, and aren't consistently reliable. Why not use computers to cut out the middle man, drive down costs, and increase satisfaction? Imagine how algorithms can be used to implement real-time, direct democracy. Imagine how multi-factor authentication can be used to ensure voter authenticity. Laws can be applied to geographical zones, while zones are dynamically created based on voter attributes and commonalities. Computers have restore points, so should governments. If the State gets our of control, a roll-back function could be implemented. Fact is there is infinite room for improvement.

If government is a service it should be a commodity. The best and brightest should be competing to write the most effective government. It’s unfortunate we’re content with our one party system. Citizens believe in the notion of Republicans and Democrats, while the only option is war and welfare.

Re: Ask HN: Design a government from scratch, how would it look?

#5
post #2

Fork this democracy on Github? Something similar: https://github.com/rbjarnason/open-active-democracy

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_democracy#Electronic...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_e-democracy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_governance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_transparency

Re: Ask HN: Design a government from scratch, how would it look?

#6
I think a government made of computers and algorithms has the same issue as A.I. What costs do you speak of? What sort of satisfaction?

As far as the "best and brightest", it sounds like you're spewing elitism. What should dictate best or brightest? IQ? That's not democracy. Democracy is a representative sampling of everyone's opinion and while not everyone has a high IQ they still deserve to get represented. What you speak of is the 21st century Electoral College.

Beneath your argument, I see your point that we all have a few core values that we want served by the government. Agreed. We might be better served by these zones based on voter attributes. I think if more power is handed to the states, our current government can achieve what you're looking for (cutting out middle man, drive down costs, and increase satisfaction). K well back to dynamics now...

Re: Ask HN: Design a government from scratch, how would it look?

#7
post #4

We just need a reliable way of keeping a Good King in power at all times. Nothing could be more efficient or ideal. The Immortal Good King will be an intelligent computer. I, for one, shall welcome our new silicon overlord.

All hail the Good King.

Re: Ask HN: Design a government from scratch, how would it look?

#8
> Imagine how algorithms can be used to implement real-time, direct democracy.

It's like you have never read a single dystopian sci-fi classic. What you're describing sounds like GOogle writ large.

Count me out! (of course opt-out is not allowed in a system like this)

Re: Ask HN: Design a government from scratch, how would it look?

#9

I think a government made of computers and algorithms has the same issue as A.I. What costs do you speak of? What sort of satisfaction? As far as the "best and brightest", it sounds like you're spewing elitism. What should dictate best or brightest? IQ? That's not democracy. Democracy is a representative sampling of everyone's opinion and while not everyone has a high IQ they still deserve to get represented. What yo…

What makes you think that Democracy is the best system? I think the reason why the 1st world nations are successful is not due to Democracy but due to capitalism.

I realize that the two go hand in hand (capitalism/free market requires a hands off/light regulatory approach), something that so far only a Democracy has been able to deliver (although it will be interesting to see how the Chinese model evolves).

Re: Ask HN: Design a government from scratch, how would it look?

#10
It's an interesting question. While at University we had an exercise in my Comparative Politics class (I majored in Int'l Relations) in which we were provide with a description of a fictional country and asked to write a constitution that we felt would best unify the country and address all the political needs of the various demographics and social groups within the country.

What we learned from the experience is that it's the social structure of the country, its history and traditions, that are the driving factor behind how we, as a class, wrote the constitution.

In our case, the fictional country had various social groups of different sizes in tribal areas. Each member of the group was assigned to one of the groups based on the group's size.

We developed a constitution quite similar to the U.S. constitution with a federal system, though I believe we used a proportional representation system rather than a winner-takes-all voting system like the U.S. and U.K. use.

In short, I don't think that modern technology would have a significant impact on how a constitution would be written because, as you said, it's all driven by human emotion, ambition, morality, and ethics. While certain aspects of the implementation of a government may be different if modern technology were applied consistently, the overall structure, design, and operation of government would be still end up being a compromise of the various ideologies of the citizens (assuming a democracy, of course).

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