From the Editor

Democracy is losing. Citizens are handing their rights over to dictators. Even the US Supreme Court and Congress are going along with it. Some of us want to save democracy but, to be logical, we shouldn’t defend a system that yields the very outcome we hate. Then what aspect of democracy should be kept? Today our political system, like Dr. Frankenstein’s creation, has become a monster that’s turning on us. We must change democracy to save it. But how? What about democracy is worth keeping?

Accountability! Power must be wielded to implement political or economic decisions. The crucial thing is to hold the power-holders accountable to us, the people. Democracy must hold them accountable without undermining their capacity to make and effect decisions. That’s the dilemma.

Our solution is “the rule of law.” No judge can be accountable to the criminal whom she is sentencing to prison, but she can be held accountable to the law, so we want reasonable laws that are just when applied.

But: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” And “the best laid regulations of mice and men often don’t apply.” However sensible a law may be, in particular cases, exceptions may be necessary.

We tweak laws and regulations to improve them, but nevertheless sometimes excellent rules don’t fit. So, while repairing our broken democracy, besides improving the rules, we need ways of reviewing particular cases and making reasonable exceptions. True accountability to “the people” can solve many problems – even with capitalism and AI. (Corporations are unaccountable, but I used to visit real Communist countries and they weren’t either.) So, how can corporations be held accountable to society, but not to any specific billionaire or political party or politician or Internet platform?.

With review panels! Each one must represent the whole population (i.e. be chosen randomly as are juries) to review appeals against the decisions of any government official or corporation or Artificial General Intelligence. The laws and regulation can remain intact, but human beings should bend them in particular cases when necessary for justice. Democracy can never make perfect decisions, but juries render acceptable verdicts – and that is a sufficient goal. See my article in this issue: “Pandemics: AI vs. Editor.”