Pia Mancini: How to upgrade democracy for the Internet era

譯者: Adrienne Lin 審譯者: Duke Zhai

I have the feeling that we can all agree

我想我們都認同

that we're moving towards a new

我們國家和社會的樣貌

model of the state and society.

正不斷變新

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

但我們毫無頭緒 不知會變得怎樣

or what it should be.

或者應該要變得怎樣

It seems like we need to have

似乎在這個時代

a conversation about democracy

我們需要一場

in our day and age.

關於民主的對話

Let's think about it this way:

讓我們這樣想:

We are 21st-century citizens, doing our

我們是 21 世紀公民

嘗試和 19 世紀建立的體制互動

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

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

這體制以15 世紀資訊科技 為運作基礎

先來看一下

Let's have a look at some of the

這個體制的特色

characteristics of this system.

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

首先 這體制是為了

五百多年前的

that's over 500 years old.

資訊科技設計

And the best possible system

而這體制設計的

that could be designed for it

可能最棒的地方在於

is one where the few make daily decisions

第一

少部分的人能夠 以大眾之名做日常決策

in the name of the many.

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

然後每隔幾年大家投一次票

第二 代價

In the second place, the costs of

participating in this system are

參與這體系的代價

incredibly high.

非常高

You either have to have a fair bit of money

你得要非常有錢

and influence, or you have to devote your entire

和有影響力

或投入畢生參與政治

life to politics.

You have to become a party member

你需成為一個黨員

and slowly start working up the ranks

慢慢提升黨內地位

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

直到或許某天 可以坐在桌邊

where a decision is being made.

參與政治決議

And last but not least,

最後也很重要的

the language of the system —

這體制的語言

it's incredibly cryptic.

非常隱晦

It's done for lawyers, by lawyers,

由律師為了律師所定

and no one else can understand.

其他人難以理解

So, it's a system where we can

所以，在這體制下

choose our authorities,

我們可決定民意代表

but we are completely left out on how those authorities

但我們完全無法得知

他們如何做出決策

reach their decisions.

So, in a day where a new information technology

也許某天因新的科技資訊

allows us to participate globally in any conversation,

我們可參與全球的任何一場對話

我們幾乎可以得知所有的資訊

our barriers of information are completely lowered

and we can, more than ever before,

也可比以前更積極

express our desires and our concerns.

表達我們的需求和擔憂

Our political system remains the same

我們的政治體系一成不變

for the past 200 years

過去兩百年來皆如此

and expects us to be contented with being simply passive recipients

還期待我們被動地

聆聽單方政治決策

需求就可被滿足

of a monologue.

So, it's really not surprising that

所以一點也不意外

這樣的體系下

this kind of system is only able to produce

只會產生兩種結果

two kinds of results:

silence or noise.

沉默 或 爭論

Silence, in terms of citizens not engaging,

沉默表示市民置身事外

simply not wanting to participate.

簡單來說就是不想參與政治議題

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

這是很普遍

也是我很厭惡的想法

and it's this idea that we citizens are naturally

也因此 我們對政治興致缺缺

apathetic. That we shun commitment.

不願做任何承諾

But, can you really blame us

但可以怪我們嗎？

for not jumping at the opportunity of going

怪我們錯失機會

不願在工作日中跑到城市裡

to the middle of the city in the middle

of a working day to attend, physically,

實際參與一場

a public hearing that has no impact

聽起來沒什麼影響的決策討論？

whatsoever?

Conflict is bound to happen between a system

衝突是體系中無法避免的

that no longer represents, nor has any dialogue capacity,

但不代表溝通終止

and citizens that are increasingly used

越來越多的市民站出來

to representing themselves.

為自己發聲

And, then we find noise:

這就是輿論

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

智利 阿根廷 巴西 墨西哥

義大利 法國 西班牙 美國

they're all democracies.

都是民主國家

Their citizens have access to

即使有投票制度

the ballot boxes. But they still feel the need,

他們仍覺得

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

需要佔據街頭才能表達心聲

To me, it seems like the 18th-century

我覺得就像 18 世紀的那個口號

slogan that was the basis for the formation

那個口號促成了現代民主基礎

of our modern democracies, "No taxation

無代表 不納稅

without representation,"

現在是否應該改為

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

無對話 無代表？

We want our seat at the table.

我們應當要有桌邊席

And rightly so.

這毫無疑問

但若要參與對話

But in order to be part of this conversation,

we need to know what we want to do next,

我們需要知道下一步想做什麼

because political action is being able

因為政治行為

已經能從煽動到團結

to move from agitation

to construction.

My generation has been incredibly good at

我們這一代人已經善於利用

網路和新科技

using new networks and technologies

to organize protests,

組織抗議活動

protests that were able to successfully

這些活動可以很成功地

impose agendas,

掀起議題

roll back extremely pernicious legislation,

撤回不當政策

甚至推翻獨裁政府

and even overthrow authoritarian governments.

And we should be immensely

我們應該為此感到非常驕傲

proud of this.

But, we also must admit that we

但我們也得承認

haven't been good at using those

我們還沒有利用好

same networks and technologies

網路和科技

to successfully articulate an alternative to what we're seeing

來詳述其他方案 解決現況

and find the consensus and build the alliances that are needed

並找到共識 凝聚力量

to make it happen.

讓想法實踐

And so the risk that we face

此外我們還必須承擔的風險

is that we can create these huge power vacuums

就是造成的權力真空

that will very quickly get filled up by de facto

讓某些有權勢力趁虛而入

powers, like the military or highly

像是軍事

或 虎視眈眈很久

motivated and already organized groups

早已存在的極端組織

that generally lie on the extremes.

But our democracy is neither

然而 民主並不是

just a matter of voting once every

每隔幾年投票一次

couple of years.

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

也不是幾百萬人聚集在街頭

So the question I'd like to raise here,

所以在這我想問的

一個很重要且需要有答案的問題

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

is this one:

If Internet is the new printing press,

若網路是新時代媒體

那網路時代的民主是什麼

then what is democracy for the Internet era?

What institutions do we want to build

我們想為 21 世紀

for the 21st-century society?

建立怎樣的體系

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

如果我沒有答案

我想也沒人知道

I don't think anyone does.

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

但我們真的不能再漠視這個問題了

So, I'd like to share our experience

所以，我想和大家分享我們的經驗

and what we've learned so far

以及從中學到的東西

and hopefully contribute two cents

希望能藉此帶來一點啟發

to this conversation.

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

兩年前 我和一些阿根廷朋友

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

想說該怎麼讓代表

我們的民意代表

our elected representatives,

to represent us?"

"代表"我們

Marshall McLuhan once said that politics

馬素·麥克魯漢曾說

政治是以昨日的工具解決今日的問題

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

So the question that motivated us was,

這句話讓我們不禁想到

can we try and solve some of today's problems

我們可否以每日用得到的工具

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

解決今日的問題呢？

Our first approach was to design and develop

我們的第一個方式是

研究設計 DemocracyOS（民主操作系統）

a piece of software called DemocracyOS.

DemocracyOS is an open-source web application

一套開放源代碼的網絡應用

that is designed to become a bridge

這套軟體設計用來

between citizens and their elected representatives

作為市民和代表的溝通橋樑

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

讓我們更方便地參與政治

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

迅速掌握資訊

project that gets introduced in Congress

我們可透過平台

看到國會每天新提案的即時翻譯

gets immediately translated and explained

in plain language on this platform.

和顯而易懂的說明解釋

但我們都知道

But we all know that social change

知道更多的資訊

is not going to come from just knowing

並不能促使社會變遷

more information,

而要掌握資訊並有所作為

but from doing something with it.

因此 透過 DemocracyOS （民主操作系統）

So better access to information

資訊的快速獲得可促使談話

should lead to a conversation

about what we're going to do next,

談論下一步可能的走向

and DemocracyOS allows for that.

Because we believe that democracy is

因為我們深信

not just a matter of stacking up

民主不只是疊加的結果

preferences, one on top of each other,

並非喜好的堆疊

but that our healthy and robust public debate

健全的公眾辯論

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

應該再次成為民主的基礎核心

So DemocracyOS is about persuading and being persuaded.

DemocracyOS 是說服與被說服

It's about reaching a consensus

是達成共識

as much as finding a proper way

以合適的方法

of channeling our disagreement.

解決分歧

And finally, you can vote

最後 你可投票

how you would like your elected representative to vote.

你希望你選出的代表如何投票

And if you do not feel comfortable

若你對某個投票議題

voting on a certain issue,

感到不自在

you can always delegate your vote

你可委託別人

代理投票

to someone else, allowing

for a dynamic and emerging social leadership.

也因此產生勤勉不懈的新社會領導

It suddenly became very easy for us

只要比對結果和民代

to simply compare these results

在國會投票的情形

with how our representatives were

一切都變得非常簡單

voting in Congress.

But, it also became very evident that

但也很明顯的

technology was not going to do the trick.

科技太過制式

What we needed to do to was to find

我們需要找到參與者

actors that were able to

讓他們利用大眾認知

grab this distributed knowledge

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

做出更好更公平的決定

So we reached out to traditional political parties

因此我們找來了傳統政黨

and we offered them DemocracyOS.

提供他們 DemocracyOS

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

我們跟他們說 透過此平台

可建立和選民的雙方對話

a two-way conversation with your constituencies."

And yes, we failed.

如你想的 我們失敗了

We failed big time.

徹底的失敗

We were sent to play outside like little kids.

我們像小孩一樣被叫閉嘴

他們說我們無知 愚昧

Amongst other things, we were called naive.

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

但老實說 事後回想 的確如此

Because the challenges that we face, they're not

因為我們遇到的問題

technological, they're cultural.

非技術性 而是文化層面

Political parties were never willing

政黨不可能願意

to change the way they make their decisions.

改變做決定的方式

So it suddenly became a bit obvious

一切間答案很明顯

that if we wanted to move forward with this idea,

若我們想進一步實現想法

we needed to do it ourselves.

我們需靠自己實踐

And so we took quite a leap of faith,

於是我們信心十足的

and in August last year, we founded

去年八月 在阿根廷

our own political party,

成立了自己的政黨

El Partido de la Red,

網路黨 (El Partido de la Red)

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

或 Net Party（網黨），在布宜諾斯艾利斯

And taking an even bigger leap of faith,

之後我們更自信無比的

we ran for elections in October last year

在去年十月出來競選

with this idea:

if we want a seat in Congress,

我們秉持著：

若我們想要國會席位

our candidate, our representatives

我們的候選人和代表

were always going to vote according to

會依據市民在 DemocracyOs

what citizens decided on DemocracyOS.

的決定來投票

即使是國會提出的單一法案

Every single project that got introduced

in Congress, we were going vote

我們也會根據市民

according to what citizens decided on an online platform.

在網路平台的決定投票

It was our way of hacking the political system.

這是我們顛覆政治體系的方法

We understood that if we wanted

我們明瞭

to become part of the conversation,

若想參與談話

to have a seat at the table,

占國會一席

we needed to become valid stakeholders,

我們須成為利益相關人

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

要達到目標 唯遵守體系規則

But we were hacking it in the sense that

但我們悄悄入侵這個體系

we were radically changing the way a political party

徹底改變政黨做決策的方法

makes its decisions.

For the first time, we were making our decisions

第一次 我們總算可以做決定

together with those who we were

和那些與政策有直接影響的人

affecting directly by those decisions.

一起做決定

對於在阿根廷才成立兩個月的政黨

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

in the city of Buenos Aires.

這個舉動很大膽

But it got attention.

因此備受矚目

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

我們獲得 22,000 票數

佔總票數 1.2％

and we came in second for the local options.

在地方選舉排名第二

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

雖然我們無法

seat in Congress, it was enough

因此獲得國會席位

for us to become part of the conversation,

卻讓我們可以參與對話

to the extent that next month,

接下來的那個月

阿根廷史上第一次

Congress, as an institution, is launching

身為國家機構的國會

for the first time in Argentina's history,

推動 DemocracyOS 和 市民討論

a DemocracyOS to discuss,

with the citizens, three pieces of legislation:

三個法案：

two on urban transportation and

兩個都市交通法案

one on the use of public space.

一個公共空間利用法案

Of course, our elected representatives are not

我們的民代並非表示

saying, "Yes, we're going to vote

「我們會根據選民的決定投票」

according to what citizens decide,"

but they're willing to try.

但他們願意嘗試

They're willing to open up a new space

願意打開新局面

for citizen engagement and hopefully

讓選民加入談話

they'll be willing to listen as well.

希望他們也會願意好好傾聽選民

Our political system can be transformed,

我們可以改變政治系統

and not by subverting it, by destroying it,

但非以顛覆或破壞性手段

but by rewiring it with the tools that

而是利用網路工具

Internet affords us now.

改寫政治體系

But a real challenge is to find, to design

但最大的挑戰在於

要找到 設計 創造方法

to create, to empower those connectors

that are able to innovate, to transform

以方法創新 讓喧囂和沉默被聽到

noise and silence into signal

and finally bring our democracies

最後將民主帶到 21 世紀

to the 21st century.

I'm not saying it's easy.

我想這不容易

But in our experience, we actually stand a chance

但根據我們的經驗

我們手握機會

of making it work.

讓這個理想實現

我打從心底深摯地覺得 值得一試

And in my heart, it's most definitely

worth trying.

Thank you.

(Applause)

謝謝大家