Pia Mancini: How to upgrade democracy for the Internet era

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

I have the feeling that we can all agree

Imam osećaj da se svi slažemo

that we're moving towards a new

oko toga da se krećemo ka novom

model of the state and society.

modelu države i društva.

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

Ali apsolutno pojma nemamo koji je to model

or what it should be.

ili koji bi trebalo da bude.

It seems like we need to have

Čini se da bi trebalo

a conversation about democracy

da razgovaramo o demokratiji

in our day and age.

naše današnjice i našeg doba.

Let's think about it this way:

Razmišljajmo o tome ovako:

We are 21st-century citizens, doing our

mi smo građani 21. veka, koji se trude

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

najbolje što mogu, da sarađuju s institucijama osmišljenim u 19. veku,

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

koje se baziraju na informacionim tehnologijama iz 15. veka.

Let's have a look at some of the

Pogledajmo neke osobine ovog sistema.

characteristics of this system.

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

Pre svega, prilagođen je informacionoj tehnologiji

that's over 500 years old.

koja je stara preko 500 godina.

And the best possible system

A najbolji mogući sistem

that could be designed for it

koji bi joj odgovarao

is one where the few make daily decisions

je onaj gde nekolicina, na dnevnoj bazi odlučuje

in the name of the many.

u ime većine.

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

A većina dobije pravo glasa jednom na svakih nekoliko godina.

In the second place, the costs of

Pod dva,

cena za učestvovanje u ovom sistemu

participating in this system are

incredibly high.

je neverovatno visoka.

You either have to have a fair bit of money

Ili morate da imate popriličnu sumu novca i uticaj,

and influence, or you have to devote your entire

ili morate da posvetite ceo svoj život politici.

life to politics.

You have to become a party member

Morate da postanete član partije

and slowly start working up the ranks

i da polako napredujete na lestvici,

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

sve dok, možda, jednoga dana ne sednete za sto

where a decision is being made.

gde se donose odluke.

And last but not least,

I poslednje, ali ne i manje važno,

the language of the system —

jezik sistema -

it's incredibly cryptic.

je neverovatno enigmatičan.

It's done for lawyers, by lawyers,

Napravili su ga advokati, za advokate

and no one else can understand.

i niko drugi ne može da ga razume.

So, it's a system where we can

Dakle, to je sistem u kome možemo

choose our authorities,

da biramo naše organe vlasti,

but we are completely left out on how those authorities

ali mi uopšte ne znamo kako ovi organi vlasti

reach their decisions.

donose odluke.

So, in a day where a new information technology

U vremenu u kojem nam nova informaciona tehnologija

allows us to participate globally in any conversation,

omogućuje da učestvujemo u bilo kom razgovoru na globalnom nivou,

our barriers of information are completely lowered

informacione barijere su skroz spuštene

and we can, more than ever before,

i možemo, kao nikad pre,

express our desires and our concerns.

da izražavamo svoje želje i brige.

Our political system remains the same

Naš politički sistem je ostao isti

for the past 200 years

u poslednjih 200 godina

and expects us to be contented with being simply passive recipients

i očekuje da budemo zadovoljni time što smo puki pasivni slušaoci

of a monologue.

monologa.

So, it's really not surprising that

Zato ne čudi

this kind of system is only able to produce

što je ovakav sistem jedino u stanju da proizvede

two kinds of results:

dva moguća rezultata:

silence or noise.

tišinu ili buku.

Silence, in terms of citizens not engaging,

Tišinu, u smislu građanske neangažovanosti,

simply not wanting to participate.

građani prosto neće da učestvuju.

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

Postoji opšte mesto koje uistinu, uistinu ne volim,

and it's this idea that we citizens are naturally

a to je ideja da smo mi građani po prirodi apatični.

apathetic. That we shun commitment.

Da bežimo od obaveza.

But, can you really blame us

Ali možete li da nas krivite

for not jumping at the opportunity of going

što ne pohitamo čim nam se ukaže prilika i pođemo

to the middle of the city in the middle

u centar grada,

of a working day to attend, physically,

u sred radnog vremena kako bismo prisustvovali, fizički,

a public hearing that has no impact

javnom saslušanju koje nema nikakav značaj,

whatsoever?

ali baš nikakav?

Conflict is bound to happen between a system

Sukob je neizbežan između sistema

that no longer represents, nor has any dialogue capacity,

koji više nije reprezentativan, niti je sposoban za dijalog,

and citizens that are increasingly used

i građana koji se sve više navikavaju

to representing themselves.

na to da predstavljaju sami sebe.

And, then we find noise:

A potom stižemo do buke:

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

Čile, Argentina, Brazil, Meksiko, Italija, Francuska, Španija, SAD,

they're all democracies.

sve su ovo demokratije.

Their citizens have access to

Njihovi građani imaju pristup glasačkim kutijama,

the ballot boxes. But they still feel the need,

ali i dalje osećaju potrebu,

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

potrebu da izađu na ulice, kako bi ih čuli.

To me, it seems like the 18th-century

Meni to liči na slogan iz 18. veka

slogan that was the basis for the formation

koji je bio osnov za izgradnju

of our modern democracies, "No taxation

naše savremene demokratije: "Nema oporezivanja

without representation,"

bez predstavnika",

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

danas bi mogao da glasi: "Nema predstavljanja bez dogovaranja."

We want our seat at the table.

Želimo naše mesto za stolom.

And rightly so.

Imamo pravo na to.

But in order to be part of this conversation,

Ali, kako bismo bili deo dogovaranja,

we need to know what we want to do next,

moramo da znamo šta želimo dalje da uradimo

because political action is being able

jer političko delanje mora biti u stanju

to move from agitation

da se pomeri od nezadovoljstva

to construction.

do konstruktivnog delanja.

My generation has been incredibly good at

Moja generacija je bila izuzetno dobra

using new networks and technologies

u korišćenju novih mreža i tehnologije

to organize protests,

pri organizovanju protesta,

protests that were able to successfully

protesta pomoću kojih su

uspešno nametnute tačke dnevnog reda,

impose agendas,

roll back extremely pernicious legislation,

koji su poništili opake zakone,

and even overthrow authoritarian governments.

pa čak i svrgnuli autoritarne vlade.

And we should be immensely

I trebalo bi da smo beskrajno ponosni na to.

proud of this.

But, we also must admit that we

Ali takođe moramo da priznamo

haven't been good at using those

da nismo bili dobri u korišćenju

same networks and technologies

tih istih mreža i tehnologija

to successfully articulate an alternative to what we're seeing

da uspešno artikulišemo alternativu onome što vidimo

and find the consensus and build the alliances that are needed

i da nađemo konsenzus i izgradimo saveze koji su neophodni

to make it happen.

da bi se to ostvarilo.

And so the risk that we face

Zato je rizik s kojim smo suočeni

is that we can create these huge power vacuums

u tome da možemo da stvorimo ogromne vakuume moći

that will very quickly get filled up by de facto

koje veoma brzo mogu

de facto ispuniti snage, poput vojne

powers, like the military or highly

ili krajnje motivisane i već organizovane grupe

motivated and already organized groups

that generally lie on the extremes.

koje uglavnom počivaju na ekstremima.

But our democracy is neither

Ali naša demokratija se ne svodi

just a matter of voting once every

na glasanje jednom na svakih

couple of years.

nekoliko godina.

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

No ne svodi se ni na mogućnost da se milioni okupe na ulicama.

So the question I'd like to raise here,

Zato bih volela da ovde postavim pitanje,

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

i verujem da je na to pitanje najvažnije da odgovorimo,

is this one:

a ono glasi:

If Internet is the new printing press,

ako je internet nova štamparska presa,

then what is democracy for the Internet era?

onda šta je demokratija u internet eri?

What institutions do we want to build

Kakve institucije želimo da izgradimo

for the 21st-century society?

za društvo u 21. veku?

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

Ja nemam odgovor, čisto da se zna.

I don't think anyone does.

Mislim da niko nema.

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

Ali iskreno verujem da ne možemo više da ignorišemo ovo pitanje.

So, I'd like to share our experience

Zato ću sa vama da podelim naše iskustvo

and what we've learned so far

i ono što smo zasad naučili

and hopefully contribute two cents

i nadam se da ćemo iole doprineti

to this conversation.

ovoj diskusiji.

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

Pre dve godine, sa grupom prijatelja iz Argentine,

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

počeli smo da razmišljamo: "Kako da navedemo naše predstavnike,

our elected representatives,

naše izabrane predstavnike,

to represent us?"

da predstavljaju nas?"

Marshall McLuhan once said that politics

Maršal Mekluan je jednom rekao da je politika

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

rešavanje današnjih problema jučerašnjim oruđem.

So the question that motivated us was,

Pitanje koje nas je motivisalo bilo je

can we try and solve some of today's problems

da li možemo da rešimo neke od današnjih problema

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

uz pomoć oruđa koje koristimo svakodnevno?

Our first approach was to design and develop

Naš prvi pristup je bio osmišljavanje i razvoj softvera,

a piece of software called DemocracyOS.

koji smo nazvali DemocracyOS.

DemocracyOS is an open-source web application

DemocracyOS je aplikacija dostupna za javnost,

that is designed to become a bridge

koja je osmišljena kako bi bila most

between citizens and their elected representatives

između građana i njihovih izabranih predstavnika,

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

kako bi nam omogućila lakše učešće iz ugla svakodnevice.

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

Pre svega, možete biti obavešteni

project that gets introduced in Congress

svaki put kada se novi projekat predstavi u kongresu,

gets immediately translated and explained

on se odmah prevodi, uz pojašnjenja

in plain language on this platform.

prostim jezikom na ovoj platformi.

But we all know that social change

Ali svi znamo da do društvenih promena

is not going to come from just knowing

neće doći prosto znanjem

more information,

više informacija,

but from doing something with it.

već njihovim raspolaganjem.

So better access to information

Zato bi bolji pristup informacijama

should lead to a conversation

trebalo da dovede do razgovora

about what we're going to do next,

o tome šta želimo sledeće da uradimo,

and DemocracyOS allows for that.

a DemocracyOS nam to omogućava.

Because we believe that democracy is

Jer mi verujemo da demokratija

not just a matter of stacking up

nije prosto gomilanje prioriteta,

preferences, one on top of each other,

jednog na drugi,

but that our healthy and robust public debate

već da bi zdrava i snažna javna rasprava

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

trebalo, ponovo, da bude jedna od njenih osnovnih vrednosti.

So DemocracyOS is about persuading and being persuaded.

DemocracyOS se bavi ubeđivanjem i kako biti ubeđen.

It's about reaching a consensus

Radi se o postizanju dogovora,

as much as finding a proper way

kao i o pronalaženju pravog načina

of channeling our disagreement.

da kanališemo naše neslaganje.

And finally, you can vote

I konačno, možete da glasate

how you would like your elected representative to vote.

o tome na koji način želite da vaši predstavnici glasaju.

And if you do not feel comfortable

A ako vam nije prijatno

voting on a certain issue,

da glasate o određenim pitanjima,

you can always delegate your vote

uvek možete da poverite svoj glas

to someone else, allowing

nekome drugom,

for a dynamic and emerging social leadership.

obezbeđujući tako dinamično i prepoznatljivo društveno rukovodstvo.

It suddenly became very easy for us

Odjednom je postalo lako

to simply compare these results

da prosto uporedimo ove rezultate

with how our representatives were

s tim kako su naši predstavnici

voting in Congress.

glasali u parlamentu.

But, it also became very evident that

Ali je takođe postalo očigledno

technology was not going to do the trick.

da tehnologija ne može da izvede željeni trik.

What we needed to do to was to find

Bilo je potrebno da nađemo

actors that were able to

aktere koji bi mogli

grab this distributed knowledge

da prikupe ovo raspršeno znanje u društvu

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

i da ga koriste kako bi donosili bolje i poštenije odluke.

So we reached out to traditional political parties

Zato smo se okrenuli tradicionalnim političkim strankama

and we offered them DemocracyOS.

i ponudili smo im DemocracyOS.

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

Rekli smo: "Vidite, ovde imate platformu uz čiju pomoć možete da izgradite

a two-way conversation with your constituencies."

dvosmernu konverzaciju s vašim glasačkim telom."

And yes, we failed.

I da, nije nam prošlo.

We failed big time.

Debelo smo omanuli.

We were sent to play outside like little kids.

Izbacili su nas napolje da se igramo, kao malu decu.

Amongst other things, we were called naive.

Između ostalog, rekli su nam da smo naivni.

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

I moram da budem iskrena: sada kad se osvrnem, mislim da smo i bili.

Because the challenges that we face, they're not

Jer izazovi s kojima se suočavamo,

technological, they're cultural.

nisu tehnološki, već kulturološki.

Political parties were never willing

Političke stranke nikada nisu bile spremne

to change the way they make their decisions.

da promene način na koji donose odluke.

So it suddenly became a bit obvious

Zato je iznenada postalo očito da,

that if we wanted to move forward with this idea,

ako želimo da razvijemo ovu ideju,

we needed to do it ourselves.

prepušteni smo sami sebi.

And so we took quite a leap of faith,

I tako smo skočili u nepoznato

and in August last year, we founded

i u avgustu prošle godine smo osnovali

our own political party,

sopstvenu političku stranku.

El Partido de la Red,

El partido de la red,

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

iliti Mreža partija, u Buenos Ajresu.

And taking an even bigger leap of faith,

I skačući u još veću nepoznanicu,

we ran for elections in October last year

kandidovali smo se na izborima u oktobru prošle godine

with this idea:

sa sledećom zamisli:

if we want a seat in Congress,

ako želimo mesto u parlamentu,

our candidate, our representatives

naš kandidat, naši predstavnici

were always going to vote according to

će uvek da glasaju u skladu sa tim

what citizens decided on DemocracyOS.

šta su građani odlučili na DemocracyOS-u.

Every single project that got introduced

Za svaki projekat koji bude predstavljen u parlamentu,

in Congress, we were going vote

mi ćemo da glasamo

according to what citizens decided on an online platform.

u skladu sa time kako su naši građani odlučili na internet platformi.

It was our way of hacking the political system.

Tako smo hakovali politički sistem.

We understood that if we wanted

Shvatili smo da, ako želimo

to become part of the conversation,

da postanemo deo razgovora,

to have a seat at the table,

da imamo mesto za stolom,

we needed to become valid stakeholders,

moramo da postanemo važeći akteri,

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

a jedini način da to ostvarimo bio je da igramo po pravilima sistema.

But we were hacking it in the sense that

Ali smo ga i hakovali,

u smislu da smo radikalno menjali način na koji političke stranke

we were radically changing the way a political party

makes its decisions.

donose odluke.

For the first time, we were making our decisions

Novina je da smo donosili odluke

together with those who we were

zajedno sa onima kojih se te odluke direktno tiču.

affecting directly by those decisions.

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

Bio je to veoma, veoma hrabar potez za stranku staru dva meseca

in the city of Buenos Aires.

u Buenos Ajresu.

But it got attention.

Ali privukli smo pažnju.

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

Dobili smo 22.000 glasova, to je 1.2 procenta ukupnih glasova,

and we came in second for the local options.

i bili smo drugi na lokalnim izborima.

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

Pa, iako to nije bilo dovoljno da nam obezbedi mesto u kongresu,

seat in Congress, it was enough

bilo je dovoljno da postanemo učesnici u razgovoru,

for us to become part of the conversation,

to the extent that next month,

do te mere da kongres, kao institucija, narednog meseca pokreće,

Congress, as an institution, is launching

for the first time in Argentina's history,

prvi put u istoriji Argentine,

a DemocracyOS to discuss,

DemocracyOS kako bi raspravljali

with the citizens, three pieces of legislation:

s građanima tri legislativne tačke:

two on urban transportation and

dve o gradskom saobraćaju

one on the use of public space.

i jednu o korišćenju javnog prostora.

Of course, our elected representatives are not

Naravno da naši izabrani predstavnici ne govore:

saying, "Yes, we're going to vote

"Da, glasaćemo

according to what citizens decide,"

onako kako građani odluče",

but they're willing to try.

ali su spremni da se potrude.

They're willing to open up a new space

Spremni su da obezbede novi prostor

for citizen engagement and hopefully

za građanski angažman i nadamo se

they'll be willing to listen as well.

da će biti spremni i da slušaju.

Our political system can be transformed,

Naš politički sistem može da se izmeni,

and not by subverting it, by destroying it,

i to ne njegovim rušenjem, uništavanjem,

but by rewiring it with the tools that

već njegovim ponovnim povezivajem s oruđima

Internet affords us now.

koje nam internet danas nudi.

But a real challenge is to find, to design

Ali istinski izazov je pronaći, osmisliti,

to create, to empower those connectors

stvoriti, osnažiti one veze

that are able to innovate, to transform

koje su u mogućnosti da uvedu novine,

da transformišu buku i tišinu u signal

noise and silence into signal

and finally bring our democracies

i da konačno uvedemo našu demokratiju

to the 21st century.

u 21. vek.

I'm not saying it's easy.

Ne kažem da je lako.

But in our experience, we actually stand a chance

Ali iz našeg iskustva, zapravo imamo šansu

of making it work.

da u tome uspemo.

And in my heart, it's most definitely

Ja duboko osećam, da je definitivno

worth trying.

vredno truda.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)