About Pickering Politics
The Exciting Experiment
PickeringPolitics.com is driving an experiment. The hypothesis is that technical advancements can unlock better governance.
Not that old governance processes are bad. PickeringPolitics.com takes the position that they are better.
The idea is that some mix of open source software, new technology primitives, and standardized data formats should unlock competencies and efficiencies in the form of optimal decision making.
We're not thinking one more web-portal. We're talking liquid democracy, participatory budgeting, platform governance, and maybe one day futarchy -- for instance.
The General Plan
These are the first three steps of the plan:
- Unite — Assemble people who care about how Pickering City Council governs. Come one, come all. This is non-partisan.
- Discuss & Analyze — Look at the current governance processes and outcomes, weighing options and ideas that could have improved outcomes.
- Build & Demo — Deploy tools that help evaluate the original hypothesis, or possibly even compete with the legacy processes.
The Experience
This project was started by Jeffrey McLarty - an open source software developer with a background in technology, finance, governance and challenging the status quo. He lives in Pickering with his wife and two kids.
Get Involved
Pickering Politics can only test the hypothesis if people participate. Here's how:
- Share this site with other people, ideally who live in Pickering.
- Suggest a new topic you'd like to see analyzed or discussed.
- Join the WhatsApp Community to discuss ideas, help build, or participate in experiments.
Thank you.