Democracy - Down and Dirty. Results

Results from our debate on Thursday 18th Mar.

We debated the issue of democracy and how to bring it closer to the people. The most strongly supported statements are shown below (all bullets are verbatim statements which achieved at least 70% support from the group)

IMPROVING DEMOCRACY

• it would be an improvement if rulers stay in touch with citizens at all times
• [politicians need] direct connection with citizens and their wishes
• There should be large-scale online discussions on every important topic. Politicians and experts would have to discuss the results in open debates.
• the principle is worth preserving, but how it works in practice should be improved
• Give citizen points for engagement. Encourage participation at all levels

VALUE OF DEMOCRACY

• freedom to choose our rulers
• it means to me to be able to influence how the country is run
• democracy guarantees human rights in a way that other political systems do not

APPETITE FOR INTERACTIVE DEMOCRACY 
On average the group were prepared to vote monthly on issues. Here are some of their reasons

• depends an careful selection of issues only important ones
• I'd be much more interested in voting on issues than for political parties, none of whom wholly represent my views
• more direct influence in decision and policy making

This word picture shows the recurring words - the size is an indication of how much they were mentioned / supported.

Vote with your feet (and your fingers) make a valid contribution by joining our next live social brainstorm on Thurs 15th April. More details comong soon.

RESULTS: Social Trust

Our debate was triggered by David Halpern's talk given at the RSA in February 2010 drawing from his recent book "The Hidden Wealth of Nations". We considered social capital / social trust - it's role in our world and ways we might enhance it.
It was interesting to note that
1. This is not an easy or familiar topic for discussion
2. The debate became more animated and drew more consensus when discussing specific actions than theories.
3. Statements in italics are extracted from David's book and were used to stimulate the debate - they still received (or not) support levels)
The debate covered 3 main questions and these are the more supported statements that were made (in order, strongest first under each question):
1. Our own levels of social trust
I haven’t encountered the concept of “social trust” before – can we have a definition please?
The economic value of all the time we spend supporting our friends and family is worth more than GDP
I think social trust is one of the things that helps build social capital
2. The benefits of social trust
Feeling good IS a benefit
Being 'looked after' when things happen - losing a key, having a flat tyre, people giving back loans
3. Increasing social trust
I give a certain number of hours of citizen service... 
I think that internet discussion groups, perhaps composed of people living in local communities, can help build community, and building community means increasing trust.
Reciprocity in social care... 
The state delivering plants and tools to groups of citizens to maintain their public spaces
Local referenda triggered by deliberative forums of small random samples of citizens


For a sense of what else came up see our wordcloud