New Agora

After reading New Agora: New Geometry of Languaging And
New Technology of Democracy I discovered my views, as they have evolved from a young person to a mature one, semms to be the complete opposite of Madison's experience. The New Agora is democratic utopia at its finest and the SDP is a wonderful process for such an environment. As a young man I too believed technology had made representative government at least partially obsolete and direct democracy was possible. However, 24x7 mass marketing of every interest imaginable that creates popular culture  and the resulting herd mentality has made skeptical that direct democracy could ever truly exist in any context.

Specific to the SDP I believe it night be effective if no relationships existed between the participants. The process is claimed it overcomes group influence types of bias but in corporate, government, and academic settings where power relationships (i.e. one with power over another) the claim appears thin.


Reference: http://www.harnessingcollectivewisdom.com/pdf/newagora.pdf