Liquid Democracy with Google Votes

Discover the concept of Liquid Democracy with Google Votes, a system where individuals delegate decision-making power to trusted individuals, exploring its benefits, challenges, and potential applications in democratic processes.

Key takeaways
  • Liquid democracy can create a meritocracy, where the most trusted individuals hold more power.
  • The delegator’s role is crucial, as they trust someone to make decisions on their behalf.
  • The system must account for transitive delegation, where someone delegates to someone who delegates to someone else.
  • The “golden rule” states that delegators should only trust those who trust them, to avoid influencing vote flows.
  • The system is vulnerable to gerrymandering, where people deliberately add tags to control the outcome.
  • Power can be manipulated through delegation, and individuals can accumulate votes through delegating to others.
  • The system can be extended to handle ranked voting and approval voting.
  • Importance of accountability and transparency in the system.
  • Transitive delegation and power flow can be problematic, and the system needs to prevent cycles and ensure that votes are not lost.
  • The system can be used to implement “no votes” and override delegation.
  • The system has potential applications in democratic processes, such as electing representatives.
  • The concept of accountability is crucial, as it ensures that individuals are held responsible for their decisions.
  • Importance of the “no vote” concept, which allows individuals to override delegation.
  • The system can be extended to handle multiple tags and issues.
  • The concept of “power” is crucial, as it determines an individual’s influence on the system.
  • The system can be used to implement a hybrid of direct and representative democracy.
  • Importance of network effects in the system, as it allows for more effective decision-making.
  • Delegation can be based on trust, expertise, and familiarity with an issue.
  • The system can be used to implement a more decentralized, distributed decision-making process.