Total democracy

According to Wikipedia, democracy is a form of government in which power is held indirectly by citizens in a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía (info)), “popular government”. Yet an enduring problem in modern society is that a great deal of people feel disengaged from the political system - even “powerless”. It appears that general public are more prone to vote for reality TV shows than for their political convictions.

However, for the first time in history, we have the technology to radically alter our working democratic model. Thanks to banks, we have secure 24 hour access to our money – either via cash machines (ATMs) or via the internet. In addition, it would be a simple matter to give each eligible citizen a voting account – we could even piggyback on the existing ATM infrastructure. Online referendums would be cost-effective whether they be on a monthly, a weekly or even a daily basis. In fact, a system of such direct democracy would render large sections of governmental bureaucracy redundant.  For example, we would surely no longer require parliamentary representatives since online referendums would act as our hotline into government. 

Of course, this system (call it “total democracy”) would have its fair share of critics who believe that the general public is simply too uninformed to run the government in such a direct fashion. Almost everyone I’ve spoken to about total democracy has suggested that the masses are not to be trusted to run the country & there’s a fair chance that this thought has crossed your mind also. The conclusion I’m obliged to reach is that this country is less than committed to the principle of democracy. Worryingly, I suspect that I am not part of the solution.