Many territories today are “representative democracies”. The “representative” is often thought of as a category, but really it is a qualifier. It is like vegan meat or faux leather. It is a distinct system from democracy.

The simplified distinction is that, in a democracy, the people have direct control over policy. They vote on policy, not just on representatives. And they can propose policy too.

Another definition: a system where the government does not have the power to make an unpopular law. And if the people demand a law, they can compel the government to enact it.

There are strong movements in many countries, trying to compel governments to implement pro-democratic changes, notably in France and in ROI in the past 10-ish years. Overall no real progress is happening. But this is not the only route to democracy.

1 Democracy in one constituency

In a representative system, each representative (AKA TD or MP) has one iota of voting power over public policy. He can use this power as he chooses, but it is hoped that (at least sometimes) he will use it for the benefit of his constituents.

A single TD can choose to use his voting power democratically. He can create an online voting platform, where his constituents can vote on each measure of policy. He can promise to always use his vote according to his constituency’s decision.

This is not enough for a democracy. The online platform must also allow the constituents to propose laws. The TD promises faithfully draft them and propose them to the parliament.

The online platform must have a democratic voting system like like score voting, and a debating forum too. Open source software already exists for both those things.

The same thing could alternatively be done using traditional media, mainly by post. But it would be more difficult and expensive and opaque.

The software part doesn’t have to be perfect yet, because none of this is legally binding. The system can evolve, and suffer hacking, without huge consequence.

But this constituency will be the template, the example, for a future state-level democracy.

If this TD is successful, other TDs will copy the scheme, until many constituencies in many territories are democratic. Then it is simple to make the legal changes to convert the entire territory into a democracy.

2 A parallel democratic government

A new political party is created. It will be radical, because its purpose will be to act in the interest of the electorate. It will have a second role, to be a counter-balance against the lobby groups for businesses, by acting as a lobby group for the electorate’s interests.

Voters can subscribe to be party-members using an the online platform. Then using the same platform, they can decide the party’s aims/manifesto collaboratively, at the start of the electoral cycle. They decide on the main campaign issues for protests, strikes, etc.

So it’s similar to the first route. It requires more organisation, but is also more effective.

The politicians will have to enact the will of the members. This shouldn’t be difficult for them, because their personal views probably align well with the electorate’s views, if they were ever to be good representatives at all. As long as they do that, the party will be a novel and revolutionary thing - a democratic party.

If this party is successful and forms a government, then the territory is effectively a democracy. The final step is to enact laws to make that permanent.