Accelerating Democracy

Transforming Governance Through Technology

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Law, Science & Technology, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Practical Politics
Cover of the book Accelerating Democracy by John O. McGinnis, Princeton University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: John O. McGinnis ISBN: 9781400845453
Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication: December 9, 2012
Imprint: Princeton University Press Language: English
Author: John O. McGinnis
ISBN: 9781400845453
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication: December 9, 2012
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Language: English

Successful democracies throughout history--from ancient Athens to Britain on the cusp of the industrial age--have used the technology of their time to gather information for better governance. Our challenge is no different today, but it is more urgent because the accelerating pace of technological change creates potentially enormous dangers as well as benefits. Accelerating Democracy shows how to adapt democracy to new information technologies that can enhance political decision making and enable us to navigate the social rapids ahead.

John O. McGinnis demonstrates how these new technologies combine to address a problem as old as democracy itself--how to help citizens better evaluate the consequences of their political choices. As society became more complex in the nineteenth century, social planning became a top-down enterprise delegated to experts and bureaucrats. Today, technology increasingly permits information to bubble up from below and filter through more dispersed and competitive sources. McGinnis explains how to use fast-evolving information technologies to more effectively analyze past public policy, bring unprecedented intensity of scrutiny to current policy proposals, and more accurately predict the results of future policy. But he argues that we can do so only if government keeps pace with technological change. For instance, it must revive federalism to permit different jurisdictions to test different policies so that their results can be evaluated, and it must legalize information markets to permit people to bet on what the consequences of a policy will be even before that policy is implemented.

Accelerating Democracy reveals how we can achieve a democracy that is informed by expertise and social-scientific knowledge while shedding the arrogance and insularity of a technocracy.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Successful democracies throughout history--from ancient Athens to Britain on the cusp of the industrial age--have used the technology of their time to gather information for better governance. Our challenge is no different today, but it is more urgent because the accelerating pace of technological change creates potentially enormous dangers as well as benefits. Accelerating Democracy shows how to adapt democracy to new information technologies that can enhance political decision making and enable us to navigate the social rapids ahead.

John O. McGinnis demonstrates how these new technologies combine to address a problem as old as democracy itself--how to help citizens better evaluate the consequences of their political choices. As society became more complex in the nineteenth century, social planning became a top-down enterprise delegated to experts and bureaucrats. Today, technology increasingly permits information to bubble up from below and filter through more dispersed and competitive sources. McGinnis explains how to use fast-evolving information technologies to more effectively analyze past public policy, bring unprecedented intensity of scrutiny to current policy proposals, and more accurately predict the results of future policy. But he argues that we can do so only if government keeps pace with technological change. For instance, it must revive federalism to permit different jurisdictions to test different policies so that their results can be evaluated, and it must legalize information markets to permit people to bet on what the consequences of a policy will be even before that policy is implemented.

Accelerating Democracy reveals how we can achieve a democracy that is informed by expertise and social-scientific knowledge while shedding the arrogance and insularity of a technocracy.

More books from Princeton University Press

Cover of the book Complex Adaptive Systems by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book The Origins of Monsters by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book The Emergence of Organizations and Markets by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book It's About Time by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book Before the Deluge by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book Grimm Legacies by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book Understanding Autism by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book Guesstimation 2.0 by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book Who Fights for Reputation by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book Stravinsky and His World by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book The Other Invisible Hand by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book The Discrete Charm of the Machine by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book The New Lombard Street by John O. McGinnis
Cover of the book Cape Cod by John O. McGinnis
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy