the best of a great lot

This Substack explores innovative governance systems, focusing on effective governance, self-governance, and the intricacies of different democratic models. It critiques current systems, emphasizes the need for accountability and representation, and proposes novel concepts like liquid democracy and sortition to address these challenges.

Governance Systems Democratic Models Accountability in Governance Representation in Politics Political Philosophy Legitimacy and Effectiveness Innovative Political Concepts Critique of Current Systems Social Media Regulation Technocracy and Public Policy

The hottest Substack posts of the best of a great lot

And their main takeaways

SIEVE - a Better Sortition

16 implied HN points • 02 Sep 22
  1. A fundamental issue in governance is incentivizing the right people for positions of power.
  2. Sortition combined with advanced voting can help select qualified candidates while ensuring voter influence.
  3. Eligibility requirements, when well-designed and fair, can complement sortition in selecting the best candidates for important roles.

A beginning

16 implied HN points • 01 Sep 22
  1. Complaining about the government without proposing solutions is not productive.
  2. Implementing reforms may not be enough to fix complex organizational issues.
  3. Exploring novel ideas for governance can lead to exciting possibilities.

Bundled Governance

8 implied HN points • 20 Oct 22
  1. Product bundling in business influences policy creation and can lead to mediocrity.
  2. The design of representative government can result in frustration due to limited choices and bundled policies.
  3. The focus on voting in elections disguises the importance of policy writing by representatives in shaping outcomes.

Where are the Expert Track Records?

4 implied HN points • 19 Mar 23
  1. Public intellectuals and politicians often lack accountability for being wrong
  2. Experts may be worse at predictions than chance
  3. Tracking mistakes and learning from them is important for growth
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Liquid Democracy

4 implied HN points • 20 Feb 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Voting Representation Governance
  1. Many citizens feel excluded from self-governance due to current voting systems.
  2. Liquid democracy could allow everyone to have a representative of their choosing.
  3. Implementing liquid democracy poses challenges like structuring Congress effectively.

Sortition

4 implied HN points • 15 Nov 22
  1. Sortition is the practice of choosing randomly, often used in selecting political officials or policy juries.
  2. Randomly selecting representatives might not solve major governance problems or improve effective decision-making.
  3. Alternative methods like randomly selecting voters or forming citizen assemblies through policy juries are being explored to make political decisions more inclusive and meaningful.

The Dilution of Representation

4 implied HN points • 27 Sep 22
  1. As a group grows, the number of connections between people increases at a much faster rate.
  2. Representative democracy faces challenges as the population and voting base grow rapidly over time.
  3. A significant increase in the voting population per representative has led to diluted representation and less engagement in the democratic process.

Governance and Legitimacy (part 1)

4 implied HN points • 20 Sep 22
  1. Governments' legitimacy is not solely based on voter satisfaction or lack of overthrow attempts.
  2. Historically, different types of governments have used various justifications for their legitimacy.
  3. Balancing self-governance with effective government is challenging but essential for a free society.

Defining "Effective"

4 implied HN points • 15 Sep 22
  1. Effective is about accomplishing goals well, not just efficiently.
  2. Having the right perspective or information can solve problems in unexpected ways.
  3. Effective governance leads to smooth societal operations and human flourishing.

Table of Contents

4 implied HN points • 12 Sep 22
  1. The series aims to design a new system for societal governance that improves upon existing ones.
  2. Key topics include defining terms, core problems to solve, and a review of select ideas.
  3. Technocracy and different governance models are also discussed in the series.

The Case of the Like Button that Ate Society

1 HN point • 13 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Social media Regulation Governance Information Flow
  1. Regulating social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to improve societal discourse and civility is a complex challenge that requires addressing various elements like like buttons, algorithms, and personal feeds.
  2. When evaluating policies for regulating technology and online behavior, it's important to consider different outcomes and potential impacts on free speech, abuse, and innovation.
  3. There is a need to level up legislative and regulatory approaches to address nuanced and multifaceted issues like the impact of social media on society, especially when lawmakers may lack technical expertise.

Bank Failures and a Coherent Model for Technocratic Intervention

1 HN point • 16 May 23
  1. Bank failures can lead to discussions on the limits and purpose of governance.
  2. Different philosophical perspectives like Libertarian, Socialist, and Technocratic views can shape responses to governance challenges.
  3. Infrastructure can be seen as a technology or service that society relies on and assumes to be consistently available.

Scorecard: Sortition

0 implied HN points • 09 Mar 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Governance
  1. Percentage of citizens with preferred representatives is very low.
  2. Randomly selected representatives might not have real accountability.
  3. Increasing randomness in representatives could improve self-governance.

Review of Select Ideas

0 implied HN points • 11 Nov 22
  1. Disappointment with modern liberal democracies can guide search for alternatives
  2. Proposed ideas like RCV or removing Electoral College may not address core governance issues
  3. Exploring concepts like Liquid Democracy, More Representatives, and Sortition as potential solutions

Self vs effective

0 implied HN points • 23 Sep 22
  1. Self-governance involves ruling ourselves through voting for leaders.
  2. Effective governance aims for rules and systems that work well for us.
  3. The administrative state was born from the belief that experts can make better decisions than politicians.

Glossary

0 implied HN points • 12 Sep 22
  1. The Glossary contains important terms like 2xR, a tool for selecting candidates, and Belocracy, which is a novel system of governance.
  2. The content is part of a series heading towards being a book, not just a newsletter.
  3. Consider starting with the Table of Contents if you're new to the content.

Eligibility Requirements

0 implied HN points • 16 Nov 22
  1. Eligibility requirements for political office can help ensure qualified candidates are elected.
  2. Challenges with eligibility requirements include who evaluates candidates and potential abuse of power.
  3. Limiting who can be selected is reasonable in some scenarios to ensure meritocracy and competence.

Why Design A New System?

0 implied HN points • 12 Sep 22
  1. Incremental change can be powerful, but may not inspire grand visions.
  2. Designing a new governance system is difficult but possible and crucial for addressing challenges.
  3. Governance is complex, imperfect, and requires continuous improvement to prevent autocracy.

Justifiable Governance

0 implied HN points • 10 Nov 22
  1. Citizens' satisfaction with a government is crucial for its legitimacy.
  2. Understanding and justifiability of laws enhance trust in government.
  3. Implicit justifications and lack of clear reasoning can lead to misunderstandings and challenges in changing rules.

September Links

0 implied HN points • 04 Oct 22
  1. Software bugs can be incredibly subtle.
  2. Objects appear solid due to their interaction with light.
  3. Different countries have varying approaches to law and citizenship.

What Even Is Self-Governance?

0 implied HN points • 05 Jun 23
📖 Philosophy Governance Democracy Leaders Meritocracy
  1. Self-governance is not just about voting, but about how decisions are made and who they benefit.
  2. In a meritocracy, only the most capable individuals are chosen to lead, creating a class divide and potential conflict of interest.
  3. Self-governance is a spectrum, ranging from weak governance with selected leaders to strong governance where everyone can participate and decisions aim to benefit all.

A Knotwork of Bureaucracies

0 implied HN points • 01 Jul 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Government Regulation Bureaucracy Policy Legislation
  1. Governmental bureaucracies face challenges in creating effective policies due to uncertainty and complexities in human behavior.
  2. Cultural norms and organizational culture strongly influence the behavior and outcomes within bureaucracies, impacting decision-making and efficiency.
  3. Forces of dysfunction, selfish motivations, and challenges in working across multiple agencies amplify difficulties in creating successful policies within bureaucratic structures.

Scorecard: Ranked Choice Voting

0 implied HN points • 07 Mar 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Government Accountability Representation Elections Legitimacy
  1. Rank Choice Voting may not significantly increase people's preference for their representative due to limited candidate options.
  2. More candidates running in Rank Choice Voting could potentially increase accountability for representatives.
  3. Rank Choice Voting has the potential to improve the legitimacy of governance by preventing spoiler candidates.

Objectivity and its Discontents

0 implied HN points • 13 Sep 23
💼 Business Decision-making Performance Metrics System Design
  1. Data-driven decisionmaking in businesses aims to be objective by relying on numeric metrics to minimize human biases.
  2. Objectivity can create an illusion of completeness and can be manipulated to support pre-existing beliefs.
  3. Goodhart's Law warns that using measures as targets can lead to negative outcomes as individuals may prioritize meeting the measure over the original goal.