Can AI make democracy fairer?
Democracy in ancient Athens looked quite different from democracies today. Instead of elections, most offices—including those in the legislature, governing councils, and magistrates—were filled by citizen volunteers, selected by random lottery. T.....»»
Partisans willing to upend democracy to help their party win even when polarization is diminished
There has long been an assumption that a connection exists between affective polarization (i.e., partisan dislike of those in the other party) and anti-democratic attitudes. For that reason, policymakers and practitioners have focused on depolarizati.....»»
Citizens" Assemblies Are Upgrading Democracy: Fair Algorithms Are Part of the Program
Math helps to randomly select the fairest citizens’ assemblies since antiquity.....»»
Research explores how biased perceptions may drive erosion of democratic values in US
A new report published in the journal Scientific Reports sheds light on the current state of democracy in the United States......»»
Climate change misinformation leads Facebook to experiment with informed democracy
Facebook has been conducting an interesting experiment in “informed democracy” as it figures out how to deal with the huge number of posts containing climate change misinformation … more… The post Climate change misinformation leads Faceboo.....»»
What"s "deliberative" democracy? Research in Nepal shows it could spur global youth voting
After local elections in Nepal earlier this year, the Kathmandu Post expressed some alarm that Nepalis were losing interest in voting......»»
Opinion: The algorithm, a tool against populist rhetoric
There is no shortage of critiques concerning the use of AI in public decision-making processes. Scholars, for example, have described algorithms as a "toxic cocktail for democracy" by pointing at the ever-growing availability of big data that can be.....»»
Ex-Twitter exec blows the whistle, alleging reckless and negligent cybersecurity policies
Twitter has major security problems that pose a threat to its own users' personal information, to company shareholders, to national security, and to democracy, according to an explosive whistleblower disclosure obtained exclusively by CNN and The Was.....»»
Open science is facing headwinds
Within the scientific community, the words "open science" have been on everyone's lips in recent years. Open science entails a great promise of a democracy of knowledge, and it is considered to be a universally good thing. In the words of the UN Decl.....»»
Latest Pegasus iPhone hack: Apple warned pro-democracy protestors in Thailand
The latest Pegasus iPhone hack to come to light targeted more than 30 pro-democracy protestors. Apple detected that their phones had been infected by NSO’s spyware, and alerted them. Thailand has been the subject of multiple military coups over th.....»»
Brief, cross-partisan conversations about sensitive political topics have scant power to narrow divisions, study finds
The premise is simple, and it seems like common sense: If Republicans and Democrats could come together for good faith dialogue, the conversations would reduce tensions and ease the corrosive polarization that threatens U.S. democracy......»»
Peer review: Can this critical step in the publication of science research be kinder?
Democracy has been called the least worst system of government. Peer review is the least worst system for assessing the merit of scientific work......»»
Can Democracy Include a World Beyond Humans?
A truly planetary politics would extend decisionmaking to animals, ecosystems, and potentially AI......»»
Did democracy have a separate origin in the Americas?
Democracy is widely understood to have arisen in the Mediterranean world about 2,500 years ago before spreading through cultural contact to other parts of the globe. But new research from the University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology, together.....»»
Seattle democracy vouchers increase donations, number of candidates in city elections
Each odd-year election cycle since 2017, four $25 democracy vouchers have arrived in the mail for registered voters in Seattle......»»
"Democracy" governs mass jackdaw take-offs
Jackdaws use a "democratic" process to decide when to leave their roosts en masse, new research shows......»»
Hong Kong Considers Blocking Telegram As Part of Crackdown On Doxing
Hong Kong is planning a ban on the Telegram messaging service, which is widely used by pro-democracy activists. International Business Times reports: Local media reported that the ban on Telegram was being considered as a means to crack down on rampa.....»»
"Stop measuring black kids with a white stick": How to make school assessments fairer for all
In the title we quote Michelle Martin (with her permission), who is a proud Kija woman and passionate educator. She sees a system that does not adequately recognize Aboriginal students' worldviews or knowledge. Instead, the education system measures.....»»
Democracy Can Still End Big Tech’s Dominance Over Our Lives
Just two decades ago barely 25% of the world’s information was digital. Today, nothing escapes this web. It is our shared fate and privilege to live at the dawn of information civilization. What kind of future will this be? What legacy will we.....»»
Seth Meyer unpacks what Elon Musk"s Twitter acquisition means for democracy
The big tech news of the week remains Elon Musk's offer to buy out Twitter for a massive $44 billion — a deal that looks all set to go ahead provided nobody backs out at the last minute. This huge acquisition has provided a ton of material for.....»»
Obama Says Social Media Falsehoods Spur Skepticism on Politics
Former U.S. President Barack Obama warned that the way Americans communicate on social media networks has weakened democracy. Bloomberg: Obama, who owns the podcasting and film company Higher Ground, warned that "citizens no longer know what to belie.....»»