Democracy has existed for as long as human tribes has existed at least.
Democracy was defined by the political scientist Robert Dahl as the majority rule of the people, where it is specified what they rule over and how, with the following criteria:
1. Political equality among the people.
2. Effective part-taking by the people.
3. Wide understanding of the democratic process by the people.
4. Control of the agenda by the people.
5. “The people” should be as inclusive as possible.
No country has ever had full democracy, democracy exists on a spectrum according to Dahl.
1. Political equality among the people.
2. Effective part-taking by the people.
3. Wide understanding of the democratic process by the people.
4. Control of the agenda by the people.
5. “The people” should be as inclusive as possible.
No country has ever had full democracy, democracy exists on a spectrum according to Dahl.
In social choice theory the question of “how” is central. How is the information of what the people want gathered? What decision process? Cardinal voting is the purest form of voting where every alternative is voted on and the view of the individual is fully accounted for by ranking and weighting alternatives. This has not been feasible in history, but it is in the digital age.
Alastair Smith and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita has explained how power in human organisations work. When the winning coalition require more key people to stay in power, when more people create value in society in line with their well being, then they will get part of the rule – which results in more democracy. The historical perspective of the growth of representative democracy is explained by this. Corruption is breaking the stated laws, it happens less with more democracy as there are more checks and balances – the people have more control. More democracy also requires equality in power.
Direct democracy has never been feasible at higher levels because it becomes less rational, there is more bureaucracy and middle-hands, institutional rationality is traded for the mandate of the people. People do not have time, energy or knowledge to attend to questions in every subject area. Trotsky, for example, rejected direct democracy because people do not want to attend a meeting deciding where their toilet water goes every week.