Civilizations and value 21 (direct and unconscious democracy)

While the culture and science of the new era have not yet become clear, the youthful forces of the new social order will probably build a new era of Japan . The first thing to be concerned about is what the culture of the new era will be and what the new science will be .

 

 the culture of the new era will likely be a kind of democratic culture that is different from that of the past . The 2021 US presidential election gave us a sense that SNS is already starting to have a major influence on old media. But it probably won't stop there. Rather than indirectly and consciously concentrating the will of the people*1 as is the case with current elections, it will become possible to condense the will of the people more directly and unconsciously*2. It's AI I think we are moving closer to a democracy based on new technologies such as ICT and big data . Democracy up until now has been a passive democracy, in which voters' dissatisfaction is avoided by simplifying issues and collating votes. In contrast, in future democracies, voters' requests will be collected to some extent through data, similar to convenience stores. I believe that a person or institution that can decipher such data in a more persuasive manner will be placed between the executive and the legislative bodies.

 

As the nature of democracy shifts from being indirect and conscious to being direct and unconscious, the nature and content of democratic culture will also change. Performances such as demonstrations and speeches, and theatrical activities such as the power struggles behind political performances (politicians are, in a sense, performers) gradually become less persuasive. Instead, insurance premium rates automatically change according to changes in numerical values (which can be considered a type of dynamic index) such as national income and interest rates*3. Or perhaps we will become a democracy without politics and with fewer laws .

 

*1 Indirect and conscious aggregation of public will, such as the current election

Indirect refers to the fact that the further a person moves away from regional characteristics, or in other words, the more one becomes a member of the Diet, the more fictitious that representation becomes. The representativeness of Diet members means that even though they are elected from a region, they are considered to be representative of the entire population. In order to fine-tune this, a system has been introduced that allows voters to choose political parties using a proportional representation system. On the other hand, conscious aggregation of public will means that the activities of city councilors, prefectural assembly members, etc. are related to accumulating votes for Diet members, but in the process, the public will is selected or assessed.  Nowadays, there are many independent voters, and the function may have deteriorated significantly in this respect, but it is probably deeply connected to the rise of populism in politics. Policies are announced in order to win the favor of independents, but they may not be the policies that are originally needed.

 

*2 More direct and unconscious gathering of public opinion

Directly means collecting data on the requests of citizens and residents and determining what is necessary, but there may be problems such as the privacy of citizens and residents being violated . Depending on the data collected, it may be possible to understand even unconscious needs. It may be possible to more efficiently and accurately calculate the demands of the people and residents than by assuming that members of the Diet represent all citizens. For most people, the disadvantages of privacy invasion might be probably less than the benefits.

 

Rather, the conflict between the rights of the state and powerful individuals will create a rivalry. If anything, there is a more important issue at hand with individualism than with democracy. However, the extent to which these individual human rights issues are guaranteed is determined by the provisions of the Constitution (for example, inner freedom is more guaranteed than freedom of action, freedom of expression is more guaranteed than property freedom, etc.) . Furthermore, as long as there is a right to review constitutional legislation, the rights of individuals can also be guaranteed. For example, if a state collects data on its citizens and uses it in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution, the state will be judged by its judicial power.

The question is what kind of constitutional system we will have in the age of AI and data, and what kind of capabilities the judicial and legislative powers will have within it.

 

*3 For example, insurance premium rates and tax burden rates change automatically according to changes in numerical values such as national income and interest rates.

 

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