Pia Mancini: How to upgrade democracy for the Internet era

Translator: Katja Vidojevic Reviewer: Matej Divjak

I have the feeling that we can all agree

Občutek imam, da se lahko vsi strinjamo,

that we're moving towards a new

da se pomikamo proti novemu

model of the state and society.

državnemu in družbenemu modelu.

But, we're absolutely clueless as to what this is

Ampak nikakor nimamo pojma, kaj to je,

or what it should be.

ali kaj bi moralo biti.

It seems like we need to have

Izgleda, da se moramo pogovoriti o demokraciji našega časa.

a conversation about democracy

in our day and age.

Let's think about it this way:

Razmišljajmo tako:

We are 21st-century citizens, doing our

smo državljani 21. stoletja,

ki si zelo prizadevamo delovati z institucijami iz 19. stoletja,

very, very best to interact with 19th century-designed institutions

that are based on an information technology of the 15th century.

ki so osnovane na tehnologiji iz 15. stoletja.

Let's have a look at some of the

Poglejmo si nekaj lastnosti tega sistema.

characteristics of this system.

First of all, it's designed for an information technology

Prvič, osnovan je na informacijski tehnologiji,

that's over 500 years old.

ki je stara čez 500 let.

And the best possible system

Najboljši možni sistem, ki ga lahko osnujemo,

that could be designed for it

is one where the few make daily decisions

je tisti, kjer peščica odloča vsak dan v imenu ljudstva.

in the name of the many.

And the many get to vote once every couple of years.

In kjer ljudstvo gre na volitve enkrat na nekaj let.

In the second place, the costs of

Drugič, stroški udeležbe v tem sistemu so neverjetno visoki.

participating in this system are

incredibly high.

You either have to have a fair bit of money

Posameznik mora biti bodisi zelo bogat in vpliven,

and influence, or you have to devote your entire

bodisi posvetiti celo življenje politiki.

life to politics.

You have to become a party member

Moraš se vključiti v politično stranko in se počasi vzpenjati po lestvici,

and slowly start working up the ranks

until maybe, one day, you'll get to sit at a table

dokler morda nekoč, lahko sediš za mizo, kjer se odloča.

where a decision is being made.

And last but not least,

In nenazadnje,

the language of the system —

jezik trenutnega sistema je zelo nejasen.

it's incredibly cryptic.

It's done for lawyers, by lawyers,

Ustvarjajo ga odvetniki in namenjen je odvetnikom

and no one else can understand.

in nihče drug tega jezika ne razume.

So, it's a system where we can

Torej, gre se za sistem, kjer izbiramo svojo oblast,

choose our authorities,

but we are completely left out on how those authorities

ko pa se gre za sprejemanje odločitev, pa smo popolnoma izločeni.

reach their decisions.

So, in a day where a new information technology

V času novih informacijskih tehnologij,

allows us to participate globally in any conversation,

ki nam omogočajo, da se spletno udeležujemo pogovorov na globalni ravni,

our barriers of information are completely lowered

se naše komunikacijske ovire popolnoma spustijo

and we can, more than ever before,

in lahko, bolj kot kadarkoli prej,

express our desires and our concerns.

izrazimo naše želje in skrbi.

Our political system remains the same

Toda politični sistem ostaja isti že 200 let

for the past 200 years

in pričakuje se, da se zadovoljimo z vlogo pasivnih prejemnikov monologa.

and expects us to be contented with being simply passive recipients

of a monologue.

So, it's really not surprising that

Tako v resnici niti ni presenetljivo,

this kind of system is only able to produce

da je tak sistem zmožen ustvariti dva scenarija:

two kinds of results:

silence or noise.

tišino ali hrup.

Tišino, kar pomeni, da se državljani ne vključujejo,

Silence, in terms of citizens not engaging,

simply not wanting to participate.

saj se enostavno nočejo udeleževati.

There's this commonplace [idea] that I truly, truly dislike,

Obstaja običajna miselnost, ki je res, res ne maram.

and it's this idea that we citizens are naturally

Gre se za miselnost, da smo mi, državljani, naravno apatični.

apathetic. That we shun commitment.

Da se izogibamo zavezanosti.

But, can you really blame us

Ampak nas res lahko krivite,

for not jumping at the opportunity of going

da ne zagrabimo priložnosti in odidemo v središče mesta

to the middle of the city in the middle

of a working day to attend, physically,

sredi delovnega dne, da smo fizično prisotni

a public hearing that has no impact

na javnem zaslišanju, ki sploh nima nobenega vpliva?

whatsoever?

Conflict is bound to happen between a system

Tako jasno pride do konflikta med sistemom,

that no longer represents, nor has any dialogue capacity,

ki nikogar ne predstavlja, niti ni zmožen dialoga,

and citizens that are increasingly used

ter med državljani, ki se jih vse bolj uporablja,

to representing themselves.

da predstavljajo svoje interese.

And, then we find noise:

In potem je tu hrup:

Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico Italy, France, Spain, the United States,

Čile, Argentina, Brazilija, Mehika, Italija, Francija, Španija, ZDA

they're all democracies.

so vse demokratične države.

Their citizens have access to

Njihovi državljani lahko dostopajo do volišč.

the ballot boxes. But they still feel the need,

Ampak vseeno čutijo potrebo,

they need to take to the streets in order to be heard.

potrebo, da gredo na ulice, da se jih sliši.

To me, it seems like the 18th-century

Meni se to zdi kot slogan 18. stoletja, ki je bil osnova

slogan that was the basis for the formation

za oblikovanje moderne demokracije: "Nobenega obdavčenja brez zastopstva!"

of our modern democracies, "No taxation

without representation,"

can now be updated to "No representation without a conversation."

Dandanes lahko ta slogan posodobimo v: "Nobenega zastopstva brez dialoga!"

We want our seat at the table.

Želimo svoj sedež za mizo,

And rightly so.

kar je tudi prav.

Ampak, da smo lahko del tega dialoga,

But in order to be part of this conversation,

we need to know what we want to do next,

moramo vedeti, kaj želimo narediti po tem,

because political action is being able

saj lahko politična moč premika želje od besed k dejanjem.

to move from agitation

to construction.

My generation has been incredibly good at

Moja generacija je izredno dobra v uporabi novih omrežij in tehnologij

using new networks and technologies

to organize protests,

za organizacijo protestov,

protests that were able to successfully

ki so že uspešno vsilili nove dnevne rede,

impose agendas,

roll back extremely pernicious legislation,

zaustavili zelo slabo in pogubno zakonodajo

and even overthrow authoritarian governments.

in tudi strmoglavili avtoritarne vlade.

And we should be immensely

Na to bi morali biti izjemno ponosni.

proud of this.

But, we also must admit that we

Ampak priznati pa moramo, da nismo bili uspešni

haven't been good at using those

same networks and technologies

pri uporabi teh istih omrežij in tehnologij,

to successfully articulate an alternative to what we're seeing

da bi uspešno artikulirali alternativo sistemu, ki ga imamo,

and find the consensus and build the alliances that are needed

in prišli do konsenza in razvili potrebna zavezništva,

to make it happen.

da se želene spremembe tudi uresničijo.

And so the risk that we face

Tako se soočamo s tveganjem,

is that we can create these huge power vacuums

da lahko ustvarimo ogromne vakume moči,

that will very quickly get filled up by de facto

ki jih bodo lahko hitro zapolnile

de facto skupine, kot je vojska,

powers, like the military or highly

ali zelo motivirane in že organizirane skupine,

motivated and already organized groups

that generally lie on the extremes.

ki so ponavadi skrajne.

But our democracy is neither

Toda naša demokracija ni niti zgolj predmet volitev enkrat na nekaj let.

just a matter of voting once every

couple of years.

But it's not either the ability to bring millions onto the streets.

Ampak tudi ni le možnost, da milijoni gredo na ulice.

So the question I'd like to raise here,

Torej, vprašanje, ki bi ga želela zastaviti tukaj,

and I do believe it's the most important question we need to answer,

in verjamem, da je to najpomembnejše vprašanje, ki potrebuje odgovor, je:

is this one:

If Internet is the new printing press,

Če je internet nova oblika tiska,

kaj je potem demokracija za dobo interneta?

then what is democracy for the Internet era?

What institutions do we want to build

Kakšne institucije si želimo zgraditi

for the 21st-century society?

za družbo 21. stoletja?

I don't have the answer, just in case.

Mimogrede, odgovora ne poznam.

Menim, da ga nihče ne pozna.

I don't think anyone does.

But I truly believe we can't afford to ignore this question anymore.

Ampak verjamem, da ne moremo več ignorirati tega vprašanja.

So, I'd like to share our experience

Želela bi z vami deliti našo izkušnjo in kaj smo se iz nje naučili

and what we've learned so far

and hopefully contribute two cents

in prispevati svoj majhen delež tej debati.

to this conversation.

Two years ago, with a group of friends from Argentina,

Pred dvema letoma, skupaj s skupino prijateljev z Argentine,

we started thinking, "how can we get our representatives,

smo razmišljali: "Kako lahko ustvarimo, da naši politični predstavniki,

our elected representatives,

ki so bili izvoljeni,

to represent us?"

nas dejansko zastopajo?"

Marshall McLuhan once said that politics

Marshall McLuhan je nekoč dejal, da je politika

is solving today's problems with yesterday's tools.

reševanje današnjih problemov z včerajšnjimi orodji.

So the question that motivated us was,

Torej, vprašanje, ki nas je motiviralo je bilo,

can we try and solve some of today's problems

ali lahko poskusimo rešiti nekatere od dandanašnjih težav

with the tools that we use every single day of our lives?

s sredstvi, ki jih uporabljamo vsak dan?

Our first approach was to design and develop

Najprej smo ustvarili in razvili

a piece of software called DemocracyOS.

program po imenu DemocracyOS.

DemocracyOS is an open-source web application

DemocracyOS je odprtokodna spletna aplikacija,

that is designed to become a bridge

ki je namenjena temu, da postane most

between citizens and their elected representatives

med državljani in izvoljenimi političnimi predstavniki.

to make it easier for us to participate from our everyday lives.

Da nam vsem olajša udeležbo kljub vsakodnevnim obvezam.

So first of all, you can get informed so every new

Torej, naprej si lahko obveščen, tako da je vsak nov projekt,

project that gets introduced in Congress

ki se ga predstavi v kongresu,

gets immediately translated and explained

takoj preveden in pojasnjen na tej platformi v običajnem jeziku.

in plain language on this platform.

But we all know that social change

Toda vemo, da družbene spremembe ne bodo prišle zgolj od poznavanja več informacij,

is not going to come from just knowing

more information,

but from doing something with it.

ampak od tega, da se te informacije uporabi za dejanja.

So better access to information

Se pravi, da bi boljši dostop do podatkov moral voditi do dialoga

should lead to a conversation

about what we're going to do next,

o naslednjih korakih,

and DemocracyOS allows for that.

kar DemocracyOS omogoča.

Because we believe that democracy is

Ker verjamemo, da demokracija ni zgolj nalaganje naših želja na kup,

not just a matter of stacking up

preferences, one on top of each other,

but that our healthy and robust public debate

ampak, da bi zdrava in trdna javna razprava

should be, once again, one of its fundamental values.

morala spet biti ena od glavnih vrednot.

So DemocracyOS is about persuading and being persuaded.

DemocracyOS je orodje za prepričevanje in da nas prepriča.

It's about reaching a consensus

Gre se za dosego konsenza

as much as finding a proper way

in da najdemo pravo pot,

of channeling our disagreement.

kjer lahko izrazimo nestrinjanje.

And finally, you can vote

Končno, lahko glasujete,

how you would like your elected representative to vote.

kako bi želeli, da bi vaši predstavniki glasovali.

And if you do not feel comfortable

In če se ne čutite udobno pri glasovanju o neki specifični zadevi,

voting on a certain issue,

you can always delegate your vote

lahko posredujete vaš glas nekomu drugemu

to someone else, allowing

for a dynamic and emerging social leadership.

in dovolite družbeno vodenje, ki je v nastajanju in dinamično.

It suddenly became very easy for us

Postalo nam je preprosto enostavno primerjati naše dosežke

to simply compare these results

with how our representatives were

s tem, kako so naši predstavniki volili v kongresu.

voting in Congress.

But, it also became very evident that

Postalo je tudi zelo jasno, da tehnologija ne bo pomagala.

technology was not going to do the trick.

What we needed to do to was to find

Potrebno je bilo najti posameznike,

actors that were able to

ki so lahko to pridobljeno družbeno znanje

grab this distributed knowledge

in society and use it to make better and more fair decisions.

uporabili, da so lahko dosegli boljše in bolj poštene odločitve.

So we reached out to traditional political parties

Tako smo kontaktirali ustaljene politične stranke

and we offered them DemocracyOS.

in jim ponudili DemocracyOS.

We said, "Look, here you have a platform that you can use to build

Rekli smo jim: "Poglejte, tukaj je platforma, ki jo lahko uporabite

a two-way conversation with your constituencies."

za vzajemno debato z vašimi volilnimi enotami."

And yes, we failed.

Seveda smo pogoreli.

We failed big time.

Zelo smo pogoreli.

We were sent to play outside like little kids.

Poslali so nas, da se igramo kot mali otroci.

Amongst other things, we were called naive.

Med drugim so nas označili za naivne

And I must be honest: I think, in hindsight, we were.

in če sem čisto iskrena: mislim, da smo res bili naivni.

Because the challenges that we face, they're not

Ker izzivi, s katerimi se soočamo,

technological, they're cultural.

niso tehnološki, ampak kulturni.

Political parties were never willing

Politične stranke niso bile nikoli pripravljene

to change the way they make their decisions.

spremeniti svojega načina, po katerem se odločajo.

So it suddenly became a bit obvious

Nenadoma je postalo kar očitno,

that if we wanted to move forward with this idea,

da če želimo iti naprej z našo idejo,

we needed to do it ourselves.

moramo to narediti sami, brez pomoči.

And so we took quite a leap of faith,

In tako smo se podali v neznano

and in August last year, we founded

in lanskega avgusta smo ustanovili lastno politično stranko,

our own political party,

El Partido de la Red,

El Partido de la Red,

or the Net Party, in the city of Buenos Aires.

oziroma Spletno stranko, kot ji pravijo v Buenos Airesu.

And taking an even bigger leap of faith,

In ko smo se tvegali še bolj,

we ran for elections in October last year

smo kandidirali na volitvah oktobra lani z našo idejo:

with this idea:

if we want a seat in Congress,

če hočemo sedež v kongresu,

our candidate, our representatives

mora naš kandidat, naši predstavniki, vedno glasovati

were always going to vote according to

tako, kot odločajo državljani preko DemocracyOS.

what citizens decided on DemocracyOS.

Every single project that got introduced

Za vsak projekt, ki je bil predstavljen v kongresu, bi glasovali tako,

in Congress, we were going vote

according to what citizens decided on an online platform.

kot bi želeli državljani preko spletne platforme.

It was our way of hacking the political system.

Bil je naš način, s katerim smo vdrli v politični sistem.

We understood that if we wanted

Razumeli smo, da če smo hoteli postati del dialoga, imeti sedež za mizo,

to become part of the conversation,

to have a seat at the table,

we needed to become valid stakeholders,

smo morali postati polnovredni pogajalci.

and the only way of doing it is to play by the system rules.

To smo lahko postali zgolj, če smo se držali pravil sistema.

But we were hacking it in the sense that

V sistem pa smo vdirali v smislu,

we were radically changing the way a political party

da smo radikalno spreminjali način, po katerem stranka odloča.

makes its decisions.

For the first time, we were making our decisions

Prvič do sedaj smo sprejemali odločitve

together with those who we were

skupaj s tistimi, ki so jih te odločitve najbolj zadevale.

affecting directly by those decisions.

It was a very, very bold move for a two-month-old party

Bil je zelo pogumen korak za zgolj dva meseca staro stranko iz Buenos Airesa.

in the city of Buenos Aires.

But it got attention.

Je pa vzbudilo pozornost.

We got 22,000 votes, that's 1.2 percent of the votes,

Dobili smo 22.000 glasov, kar je 1,2 % vseh glasov,

and we came in second for the local options.

in bili smo drugi na lokalnih volitvah.

So, even if that wasn't enough to win a

Čeprav to ni bilo dovolj za sedež v kongresu,

seat in Congress, it was enough

je bilo dovolj, da smo postali del debate

for us to become part of the conversation,

to the extent that next month,

v takšni meri, da bo kongres naslednji mesec uporabil,

Congress, as an institution, is launching

for the first time in Argentina's history,

prvič v zgodovini Argentine,

a DemocracyOS to discuss,

aplikacijo DemocracyOS za razpravo z državljani o treh zakonih:

with the citizens, three pieces of legislation:

two on urban transportation and

dva o mestnih prevozih

one on the use of public space.

in enega o uporabi javnega prostora.

Of course, our elected representatives are not

Seveda, naši predstavniki ne bodo kar dejali:

saying, "Yes, we're going to vote

"Da, glasovali bomo tako, kot državljani hočejo."

according to what citizens decide,"

but they're willing to try.

Ampak, so pa pripravljeni poskusiti.

They're willing to open up a new space

Pripravljeni so odpreti nov prostor

for citizen engagement and hopefully

za udeležbo državljanov in upam,

they'll be willing to listen as well.

da bodo tudi pripravljeni prisluhniti.

Our political system can be transformed,

Naš politični sistem lahko spremenimo,

and not by subverting it, by destroying it,

ne da ga pretvorimo tako, da ga uničimo,

but by rewiring it with the tools that

ampak da ga pretvorimo z orodji, ki jih internet ponuja.

Internet affords us now.

But a real challenge is to find, to design

Ampak pravi izziv je najti, ustvariti,

to create, to empower those connectors

iznajti in ojačati te povezave,

that are able to innovate, to transform

ki so zmožne preoblikovati hrup in tišino v signal

noise and silence into signal

and finally bring our democracies

in končno ponesti naše demokracije v 21. stoletje.

to the 21st century.

I'm not saying it's easy.

Ne pravim, da je lahko.

But in our experience, we actually stand a chance

Ampak po naših izkušnjah, imamo dejansko možnost,

of making it work.

da jih usposobimo.

And in my heart, it's most definitely

In to, srčno čutim, je vsekakor vredno poizkusiti.

worth trying.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)