ProxyGov

Suppose we had an organization in which we each had one vote, in theory, but the reality is, as it always has been, that all of us voting is usually a big waste of time; what we need is a list of proxies and, wherever possible, anonymity.

So, ideally, the new voter would get on the system and he'd set up a list. He finds that #398532 voted the way he would have 96% of the time, #429875- 80%, so on an so forth. Would we need more than 10? Doubtful. Anyway, everyone can vote on everything, so if new voter was really gung-ho about voting he'd stay close to his computer and vote for everything himself. However, some, probably even the majority, would soon find better things to do with their time, and calculations would be made. If you don't vote, someone in your proxy list will, and he effectively votes for you.

There could conceivably be situations in which one person made all the decisions, just as there could conceivably be situations in which every person decided to vote, but the true ratio would be optimized. Mistakes would be made, but the outcome of the vote would not result in being more mistaken than the voter population as a whole.

Naturally voters could change their proxy lists, perhaps sometimes sacrificing 90% similarity rating because of one really bad vote, or just because of changing preferences over time.

It would be a fun thing to try, but there's a catch- in order for people to use the system in earnest, they need to be invested in it in some way. And in order for people to invest in it, they need to trust it, which they probably won't until there is a proven track record. Also, at some point, folks would start trying to circumvent the anonymity and create political alliances.