<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div class="">Direct democracy and generally direct action assumes an interaction between an individual and a state of the world / physical object. So, the above definition is limited to a republican form of governance. It isn’t possible to compare two things, if the definitional frame eliminates one from consideration.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><font color="#00afcd" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 175, 205);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>We’re not comparing "two things." We’re looking at how democratic current political systems are. Republics aim to be democratic as well as constitutional. They can be evaluated along both axes. They can be evaluated along other axes as well as others, such as how free they are, or how equitable they are, though these aren’t part of the explicit definition of "republic"…<br class="">-r<br class=""><font color="#00afcd" class=""><br class=""><br class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 175, 205);" class=""><br class=""></span></font><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class="">On Jan 11, 2020, at 6:14 AM, David Stodolsky <<a href="mailto:dss@socialinformatics.org" class="">dss@socialinformatics.org</a>> wrote:<br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><br class=""><br class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""></blockquote>On 10 Jan 2020, at 22:50, Rand Strauss <<a href="mailto:Rand@PeopleCount.org" class="">Rand@PeopleCount.org</a>> wrote:<br class=""><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div dir="auto" class=""><div class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="" style="word-wrap: break-word; line-break: after-white-space;"><div class=""><div class="">The major conceptual challenge is defining operationally what is meant by “representative.” </div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><div dir="auto" class=""><div class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="" style="word-wrap: break-word; line-break: after-white-space;"><div class=""><div class="">Other terms, such as "accountability,” face the same problem, with no theoretically rigorous answer in sight</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></blockquote><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>I suspect we can build an operational definition of representative.<br class="">I know one can assemble an operational definition of accountability.<br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div dir="auto" class=""><div class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="" style="word-wrap: break-word; line-break: after-white-space;"><div class=""><div class="">The only solution...is to empirically determine the degree to which governmental decisions reflect the desires of the population</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></blockquote><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>No, it’s not the only solution.<br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>Plus, it is not reliable. In a true democracy, not only are representatives accountable to voters, but voters are responsible for holding representatives accountable. The desires of responsible voters differ greatly from the surveyed desires of randomly selected, surprised, only-responsible-for-voting voters. Such voters are often poorly informed since they lack rewards for being informed about political issues. In fact, being informed merely makes one more frustrated- many find it to be a negative reward.<br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>An operational definition of accountability<br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>We have at least two common examples of accountability. In a business, a worker is accountable to his/her boss. In a school, a student is accountable to each teacher. From these, a rigorous operational definition can be created.<br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>One of the reasons we don’t know what "accountability" means is that we think it’s some sort of "ability." It’s not. It’s a relationship. A circular definition might be: Accountability is a relationship where Worker is accountable to Boss and Boss holds Worker accountable. So we have 2 parties in a relationship.<br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>What’s a relationship? A relationship is where two people have roles with respect to each other and communicate about them. We want to have this being-accountable/holding-accountable relationship between voters and politicians, we currently can’t because we lack the communication mechanisms. <br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>To spell it out, <a href="https://blog.peoplecount.org/series/real-accountability/" class="">accountability is</a>:<br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><span style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-style: inherit; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">"the boss guiding the worker and having expectations</span><br class=""><span style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-style: inherit; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">the worker answering the boss’ questions regularly</span><br class=""><span style="color: rgb(55, 55, 55); font-style: inherit; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">the boss judging the worker</span><br class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><span style="font-style: inherit; color: rgb(55, 55, 55); orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">the boss being able to fire the worker"</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote>Further on in the series, the rest of the relationship is fleshed out.<br class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class="">-r</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><font color="#12c00e" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>Direct democracy and generally direct action assumes an interaction between an individual and a state of the world / physical object. So, the above definition is limited to a republican form of governance. It isn’t possible to compare two things, if the definitional frame eliminates one from consideration.<br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><br class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>dss<br class=""><font color="#12c00e" class=""><br class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(18, 192, 14);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>David Stodolsky, PhD Institute for Social Informatics<br class="">Tornskadestien 2, st. th., DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark<br class=""><a href="mailto:dss@socialinformatics.org" class="">dss@socialinformatics.org</a> Tel./Signal: +45 3095 4070<br class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">
<br class=""></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><font color="#00afcd" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 175, 205);" class=""><br class=""></span></font><font color="#5856d6" class=""><span style="caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214);" class=""><br class=""></span></font>David Stodolsky, PhD Institute for Social Informatics<br class="">Tornskadestien 2, st. th., DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark<br class=""><a href="mailto:dss@socialinformatics.org" class="">dss@socialinformatics.org</a> Tel./Signal: +45 3095 4070<br class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">
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