— Essay · Civic Trust Builder

The Case for Civic Voting

Digital Democracy and the Power of Participation

The Internet presents many opportunities for advancing and innovating democratic, citizen engagement, both at the local level and at national mass-scale.1 Although there have been noble attempts in the United States to improve the efficiency of government services utilizing internet, digital technology, the real opportunity lies in increasing citizen participation, and giving voters new opportunities for political agency.

Pew Research shows that citizens want a stronger public voice in politics; and their valuation of democracy is directly tied to a sense of having a voice in government.2

Politics as Usual in Crisis

Self-serving partisanship, big-money special interests, social media disinformation, gerrymandered voter suppression — these are among the structural factors that contribute to alienating voters from our democratic, political process. Meanwhile, public approval of how Congress is handling its job has hit all-time lows.3

The main reason politics as usual is in crisis is simple: politicians are not paying attention to actual voter concerns.

Thus, democracy has reached a crossroads: disintegration -or- realize new opportunities for voter engagement.

If We Are Willing to Think Innovatively

We can broaden our conception of voting to include voting on educationally presented issues of common concern continuously — via app-based, non-binding Civic Voting — to complement voting for candidates every two years. Civic Voting will give voters a new mass-scale, well-informed voice in politics. Politicians will have a true mandate from the people. Voters will have true political agency.

Civic Voting Will Keep Voters Engaged In Between Elections

— and thereby renew the relationship between voters and their elected officials. A Civic Voting multimedia app will enable elected officials to educationally engage all their constituents at mass-scale, in advance of final decisions on issues. It will cultivate trust, because voters will have an actual experience of being heard by their politicians. Civic Voting digital democracy meets voters where they are online, and provides elected officials with a real-time picture of voter sentiment.

What “civic voters” will discover is most Americans agree on most issues — if they are presented as practical problems to be solved — rather than in terms of culture war, identity politics.4

Americans Are Ready for Transformative Change

It comes as no surprise Pew Research also reports 65% say our democracy needs a major change or full overhaul.5 Fortunately, we have the civic technology to move our democracy to a new level of participatory maturity that both empowers voters and respects representative government. What’s required is a politically safe, educationally sound, technologically secure online assembly place to transform the relationship between voters and their representatives to allow for mutual responsibility for self-governance.

Also needed are politicians who are committed to being genuine public servants -and- pro-democracy innovators: ready, willing, and able to Put the Voice of the People First!

Notes

  1. For example, Estonia is a pioneer in placing nearly all government services online, and providing for e-voting. In Estonia’s recent parliamentary election, more than 50% of the ballots were e-votes. Estonian National Broadcasting 3/4/23 ↩
  2. Pew Research ↩
  3. Gallup ↩
  4. American Communities Project ↩
  5. Pew Research ↩