Representative democracy and the profession

Digital technology could be instrumental in providing a more democratic and participatory form of government. Whether justified or not, the perception of incipient economocracy must be reversed. For, to paraphrase a much admired judicial maxim, democracy must not only be done, it must also be seen to be done. Making elected representatives more democratic and responsive to those represented, or at least less liable to accusations of moving in the opposite direction, seems an obvious measure. The computing profession has a responsibility to take part in publicly discussing democratic reform, and in particular to make suggestions about how such reform could employ digital technology.