https://theloop.ecpr.eu/designing-democracy-let-the-people-choose-how-to-govern-themselves/

Brigitte Geissel makes the following, powerful, point:

"Self-governing democracies have not been tried out yet and do not exist in real life."

Without further explanation, especially from Geissel's excellent book "The Future of Self-Governing, Thriving Democracies", this line risks irritating people - particularly buffs of the Swiss cantonal system.

The irritation stems from a misunderstanding on the part of people who conflate an often low-turnout and usually foundationally sexist, ageist, specieist and racist system of democracy as "the" design for self-governance. It isn't.

The key to understanding the promise of Geissel's point rests in who, in the end, makes decisions. It is the state or some pseudo-state actor, like the Taliban or mafia or a corporation, where government is weak. People may be consulted, they may deliberate and offer policy through a mini-public, but in the end they are not the ones who decide. They submit their work, their ideas, their hopes, to an authority that rules them - ostensibly on their behalf. The point in self-governing democracy is for private citizens themselves to decide and for the state, their state, to listen to them and serve them. They are the decision-makers. They decide among themselves. There is no entity above the private citizens or a broader, more inclusive, conception of "the people" that may include residents and visitors.

Designing a self-governing democracy may sound simple in theory, but it is a truly vexing undertaking.

Do you agree with this frame? If so, what challenges do you foresee in designing a self-governing democracy? If not, why not?

https://theloop.ecpr.eu/designing-democracy-let-the-people-choose-how-to-govern-themselves/

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