Anonymity, immediacy and electoral delegation in socio-technical computer systems

Abstract

Collective decision-making is a key concern for every social group; the clarity, effectiveness and participatory characteristics of the process are central to democratic societies and procedures.Networked computer systems in general and the increasing attention to social aspects in their purpose and design offer the individual novel means for participation, but also entail specific systemic problems. These can be either variations of existing general sociological and political issues, or arising also from the system’s characteristic technical design and structure. This article provides an overview of systems for collective and dynamic decision-making with their peculiarities, focusing on the three core interacting aspects: anonymity, immediacy and electoral delegation.