People are social Animals

“Man is a political animal” (zoon politikon) is a frequently-used phrase, that is rarely attributed to its creator – Aristotle. Even worse, it is frequently misused and misunderstood. Without expanding on Aristotle’s philosophy, it would be closer to translate the concept into “man is a social animal” – he lives in a society, governed by rules and can realize his nature and potential only in a social context.

Democracy? Theoretical Democracies and de-facto Oligarchies!

We spend our lives in organizations, interacting with each other. At work, in our town, city, district, union – even in Telegram groups. Many of these organizations are managed through a representational system of governance. The preferred method today is democracy. Not because it is perfect. Because all other forms of governance (that we tried) were worse.

We elect representatives and they are supposed to represent us. The problem is that most organizations that are supposed to be representational democracies are in fact oligarchies (= a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution). Instead of “the few directed by the many”, it too often is “the few dictating to the many”.

That sucks!

Direct? Discounted, Disillusioned and Disengaged.

To get elected, candidates promise us, the voters, the sky. Seduced, we, literally, give then our vote of confidence.

The problem is that democratic processes are infrequent, not transparent and are driven by money and back-channels. Without any on-going people-driven enforcement mechanism, other than the next elections, representatives can break promises without any consequences.

Lack of ongoing, people-driven, oversight leads to corruption, distorted representation, and declining participation, when we, discounted and disillusioned, disengage.

I am not talking about general elections here. I am talking about your municipality – where 4 out of 5 don’t vote! I’m talking about our engagement and understanding of decision-making processes in the NGO where we volunteer, or the PTA.

People. Direct. Democracy.

Coalichain

Disclaimer: I first came across Coalichain a few months ago. I didn’t like them at first. I thought they are a centralized innovation posing as a decentralized solution. However, I soon realized that I was wrong, and, in full disclosure, I work with and for Coalichain and I have a vested interest in their success. Still, I am trying to keep this account justifiable, regardless.

Coalichain is a decentralized-democracy ecosystem, based on blockchain and smart-contracts and fueled by cryptocurrency. It delivers effective, accountable, people-driven governance to any organization from DAOs, through companies, NGOs, municipalities and all the way to general elections. Coalichain allows representatives to showcase their platform directly to their voters; make clear and accountable promises; transparently raise money and more. It also allows everyone to track the performance of elected officials and hold them accountable.

The platform has three parts:

Effective Representation (Opinions) - The people use Coalichain to express their wants and interests, shape their representatives’ platforms and promises, support as they see fit. Efficient and Secure Elections (Voting) - Organizations of all sizes can run secure, confidential digital elections People-driven Accountability (Actions) - The ability to monitor, track and enforce promises representatives make to their voters. Those can range from automatically publishing information about a discrepancy, through fines and all the way to removal from office.

Smart-contracts allow Coalichain to create a direct voter-representative contractual relationship with teeth! No more empty promises and hoping we will forget. You don’t keep your promises – you pay the price – Could be reimbursing donations and could be removal from office – depending on your organization and the promise.

The Token as a Community Maker

Over and above the more known utilities of tokens, for example, in being the platform’s tender, the token, in this case, has a huge potential to be a community building tool:

Build a shared sense of trust, purpose, and community

Make tracking and financial management easier and more directly related to the platform’s performance

Incentivize and remunerate the early adopters

Support tool - the more tokens donated or used by a candidate or cause, the higher its visibility (with restrictions to prevent abuse)

Transparency – all commitments made by candidates to supporters are public and locked into smart contracts, so anyone trying to influence the election will risk exposure and public ramifications.

Participation measurement - tokens can be used to measure the level of activity, participation and influence its holder has or has demonstrated.

I like Coalichain because I think they mark the natural evolution of Blockchain application. Decentralized, secure and transparent it levels the democratic “playing field”, allowing for people-driven, clean from external influences and enforceable Democracy.

What do you think?





Shahar