9.2. Political start-up

Ideas

Drafting Constitutions

Software Democracy relies on two Constitutions. The Universal Constitution defends the founding values of Software Democray. It is translated and integrated into all national constitutions by definition.

The National Constitution develops the Universal Constitution, detailing its implementation at the country level and clarifying all areas not covered by the Universal Constitution.

The priority is therefore to write a first version of the Universal Constitution. This founding text must:

In parallel, working groups are drafting National Constitutions. These groups can cooperate to share the best approaches.

The drafting of Constitutions must be the result of participatory work, open collaboration. These texts will be constantly evolving, but a first version bearing the values of Software Democracy must be voted on as soon as voting software is available.

It doesn't have to be perfect because it can evolve; it just needs to exist!

Digital Identity

Digital democracy requires managing digital identity for citizens. This is used for voting and the disbursement of Universal Basic Income. It is therefore an essential building block of digital democracy, and its security must be absolute, both to protect individuals from identity theft and to protect their privacy.

From a practical standpoint, identity implementation can be done through a PKI-type certification authority (Public Key Infrastructure). Each individual receives a digital certificate issued by the state, which proves their identity to anyone trusting the issuing authority (here, the state).

This certificate is issued by a state authority in the form of a physical card. It can also be loaded onto a mobile application whose code (always open source!) is maintained under the auspices of the ministry of Software Democracy. These two formats are freely interchangeable; at the beginning of Software Democracy, it is likely that only the mobile application will be used.

The important technical components here are:

How can we verify that someone doesn't create two identities? One can subject the creation of an individual's digital identity to the verification of their current identity documents. Once Software Democracy is established, digital identity will become the primary authority by being assigned at birth. The voluntary use of multiple official identities will be an offense, and the penalties will be deterrent.

Conversely, nothing obliges an individual to claim and use official digital identity. They are free to remain disconnected from the system or request pseudonymous identities but will then lose access to their citizen rights and Universal Basic Income.

As a reminder: Software Democracy is not a surveillance society. It relies on technology to establish a fairer and more privacy-respecting society. The purpose of the information stored with digital identity must be precisely defined, and above all, access to this information must be strictly regulated by law and protected by code.

At the international level, all that is required for different countries is to trust the issuing authority of other countries in order to validate the identity of foreign citizens.

Voting software

Once the first versions of the Constitutions are written and the digital identity management system is stabilized, the Software Democracy can launch the voting process.

This process must be able to take place at two levels: at the global level to vote for the Universal Constitution, and at the national level to vote for the National Constitution and the first Laws.

These software programs are complex and must be extremely secure. Several components are necessary.

The blockchain

Voting software is secured by the blockchain. This allows the voting system to be auditable and transparent.

During each vote, each citizen receives a voting token on the blockchain thanks to their digital identity. This token anonymizes their vote to the public but allows them to signal that they have voted. It also gives them the possibility to verify their vote.

At the end of the vote, the vote count is instant and indisputable. Moreover, the blockchain thus preserves the incorruptible history of the votes.

The blockchain electronically signs the formulation of the votes as well as all associated documents (see the document portal below). This authenticates the documents, archives them, and makes it impossible to modify them to influence the voters.

Thus, unlike dubious electronic voting machines, the blockchain supports optimal and transparent functioning of democracy; it's the end of paper ballot voting, but it's progress!

The voting application

Available online or on mobile, users connect to the voting application with their digital identity. The citizen status then allows them to obtain a unique token for each ongoing vote and to use it.

It displays ongoing votes and refers to the document portal for all information related to the vote: description, issues, analysis by the Commission, recommendations from the Councils...

The voting application also allows users to consult the complete history of votes, associated documents, results, as well as their own voting history.

Document portals

Document portals put online all documents related to the vote. Publicly accessible, the document portals present all the details related to a vote: evolution of the process over time, origin of the request, analysis report by the commission, recommendations from the Councils...

They can also provide links to public debate platforms or authoritative sites in the debated field.

Documents are electronically signed on the blockchain, which guarantees their authenticity and immutability.

When a vote is accepted, the document portal also offers access to the implementation tracking, most often by referring to the corresponding ministry website.

Let's talk about it!

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