More info: https://blockchainhub.net/ How to see beyond the Hype and focus on what is important

1. The Future of Democarcy
How to see through the hype,
and focus on what need to be done
BlockchainHub ■ Dr. Shermin Voshmgir ■ November 4, 2015

2. Blockchain
A new Constitution
The algorithm of present and future
blockchains are the constitutional
foundations of how our future societies
will be structured
We need to look at the history of
modern democracy to learn from past
mistakes to implement more functional
‘constitutions’ on the blockchain.

3. The Future of
Democracy
in a world of blockchains
Imagine that...
In the future, we won't be citizens
of a nation state anymore
Instead we will be citizens/users of
different blockchains
Our constitutions will be the
underlying algorithms of those
blockchains, and the consensus
mechanisms that define it

4. Post
Democracy
or the shell we live in...
Political scientists claim
that we are living in a time of
‘post democracy’
On a superficial level it seems like we
have a functioning democracy, but
many citizens feel that what they have
voted for is not what they get

5. Why?
We have a fundamental
constitutional bug
Dissolving of the
Nation State

6. Constitutional
bug
Separation of Powers
One of our fundamental pillars of
modern democratic constitutions is
our system of "checks & balances" aka
"separation of powers"
These ideas were first formulated by
John Locke & Baron de Montesquieu,
two political thinkers who lived in the
16th century in Europe.
600 years later, our society has evolved,
but our constitutions are still based on
ideas and concepts of the 16th century

7. Constitutional
bug
The 16th century
Absolute Monarchies
16th century
no private companies
printing press was a new
technology
All political & economic & ‘media’
power was held by one person, the
absolute monarch.

8. Constitutional
bug
20th Century
The Battle of
communism & capitalism
Centuries later,
when our modern democracies
started forming, the idea of how to
deal with economic power was
insufficiently accounted for
Ideological battle between
communism & capitalism
A battle that no side has won

9. Constitutional
bug
Inertia
As long as we don't fix our
constitutional bug, we won't have
functioning democracies
Easier said than done
Constitutional Inertia
thinking inertia
power inertia

10. Dissolving of
Nation State
Post democracy of the
economic shell we live in
Because economic activity has not been
sufficiently accounted for in the
constitutions of our modern
democracies...
...corporations evade national laws by
establishing headquarters in countries,
with less rigid workers protection
rights/environmental laws, taxes.
Our modern constitutions are stuck in
inertia and fail to sufficiently adapt to
the new circumstances

11. Blockchain
Algorithm
Consensus on the
Blockchain
On the blockchain, the algorithm defines the
‘constitution’ ie the underlying laws of how
people interact with each other
When the algorithm is outdated, it has to be
modified
Modification happens though consensus
But consensus on the blockchain is not easy,
as we can see from the challenges that
bitcoin is currently facing.

12. Before we enter the era of the blockchain,
… before we start building the next killer applications,
… we should start thinking of how we want to define the algorithms aka our
future constitutions