Hacker News with Generative AI: Democracy

We Should Let a Lottery Decide Our Government (2019) (thewalrus.ca)
Politicians are often older, wealthy, and white. Could randomly selecting average citizens lead to better representation?
Politics, Democracy, Representation, Social Issues
63 points by Tomte 2 days ago | 78 comments
To Save America's Democracy We Should End Elections (duncangh.com)
At present, running for office is a task that would almost entirely yield candidates with extroverted personalities with high degrees of self confidence.
Politics, Democracy, Elections
14 points by duncangh 7 days ago | 18 comments
A Politically Neutral Military Is Not Always Obedient (lawfaremedia.org)
Military political neutrality in a democratic society is, and always has been, more than a promise of obedience.
Military, Politics, Democracy
11 points by hn_acker 15 days ago | 1 comments
Threat of tech bros, foreign interference & disinformation to press freedom (theconversation.com)
Media freedom has long been essential to healthy democracy. It is the oxygen that fuels informed debate, exposes corruption and holds power to account. But around the world, that freedom is under sustained attack.
Media Freedom, Democracy, Censorship, Journalism, Foreign Interference
13 points by billybuckwheat 21 days ago | 1 comments
Reimagining Democracy (schneier.com)
Imagine that all of us—all of society—have landed on some alien planet and need to form a government: clean slate. We do not have any legacy systems from the United States or any other country. We do not have any special or unique interests to perturb our thinking. How would we govern ourselves?
Democracy, Governance, Political Systems, Social Sciences
36 points by cratermoon 27 days ago | 12 comments
Harvard professor offers a grim assessment of American democracy (npr.org)
Steven Levitsky studies how healthy democracies can slip into authoritarianism. He says the Trump administration has already done grave damage: "We are no longer living in a democratic regime."
Politics, Democracy, Authoritarianism, USA
15 points by rbanffy 30 days ago | 0 comments
The "De" in "Decentralization" Stands for "Democracy" (techdirt.com)
There’s a certain dark irony in watching tech billionaires who built their empires on the “democratizing power of technology” now actively working to dismantle democratic institutions.
Decentralization, Technology, Politics, Democracy
9 points by nickcotter 35 days ago | 1 comments
The "De" in "Decentralization" Stands for "Democracy" (techdirt.com)
There’s a certain dark irony in watching tech billionaires who built their empires on the “democratizing power of technology” now actively working to dismantle democratic institutions.
Decentralization, Democracy, Technology, Big Tech, Politics
12 points by NotInOurNames 36 days ago | 2 comments
Two tipping points for officially becoming a dictatorship could occur this week (robertreich.substack.com)
The two tipping points for when we officially become a dictatorship could occur this week
Politics, United States, Democracy, Dictatorship
30 points by ndsipa_pomu 37 days ago | 16 comments
Bukele, Abrego Garcia, and Red Lines (thebulwark.com)
An emergency Sunday Triad, because I’m concerned that people don’t appreciate how important this week will be for American democracy and our constitutional order.
Politics, United States, Democracy, Constitution
23 points by josefresco 39 days ago | 3 comments
Chasing Shadows: Cyber espionage, subversion, and the global fight for democracy (chasingshadowsbook.ca)
In this real-life spy thriller, cyber security expert Ronald Deibert uncovers the unseemly marketplace for high-tech surveillance, professional disinformation, and computerized malfeasance.
Cybersecurity, Espionage, Politics, Global Affairs, Democracy
4 points by debo_ 48 days ago | 1 comments
What if we made advertising illegal? (simone.org)
What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it—abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.
Advertising, Democracy, Thought Experiment, Regulation, Manipulation
1975 points by smnrg 48 days ago | 1387 comments
Hyperinflation Heralded the Fall of German Democracy (2023) (smithsonianmag.com)
“Conditions have taken a catastrophic turn here,” wrote Berlin resident Betty Scholem in an October 15, 1923, letter to her son. “This letter cost 15 million” marks to send, she added, and “it will be 30 million beginning the day after tomorrow.” She and her husband estimated their expenses in the billions as the monthly rate of inflation approached 30,000 percent.
History, Germany, Economics, Inflation, Democracy
51 points by joebig 49 days ago | 38 comments
What if we made advertising illegal? (simone.org)
What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it—abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.
Advertising, Democracy, Thought Experiments, Ethics
8 points by zephyrfalcon 49 days ago | 10 comments
What If We Made Advertising Illegal? (simone.org)
What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it—abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.
Advertising, Democracy, Thought Experiments
12 points by smnrg 51 days ago | 4 comments
The Demand Side of Democratic Backsliding (cambridge.org)
Why do citizens fail to punish political candidates who violate democratic standards at the ballot box?
Politics, Democracy, Political Science, Voter Behavior
6 points by PaulHoule 53 days ago | 3 comments
Six unsettling thoughts Eric Schmidt, Google's former CEO, has about AI (npr.org)
Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, is thinking about artificial intelligence – how it interacts with humans, and how it may reshape democracy. Or replace it.
Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Society, Democracy
12 points by bookofjoe 54 days ago | 1 comments
On Tyranny [book] (timothysnyder.org)
The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.
Politics, History, Democracy, Totalitarianism, Books
58 points by pabs3 56 days ago | 20 comments
Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow (freedom.press)
The news business isn’t just any business — it serves a vital role in our democracy, recognized by the First Amendment. But media outlets can’t serve that role if they’re bankrupt. And as a result, news readers often find themselves blocked by paywalls from reading important stories about government business.
Journalism, Media, Democracy, Paywalls
447 points by healsdata 66 days ago | 74 comments
Taiwan is making democracy work again. It's time we paid attention (2019) (wired.com)
On March 18, 2014, a large crowd seethed around Taiwan’s parliament. Protestors fought off guards and kicked the doors of the building open, streaming onto the parliamentary floor.
Taiwan, Politics, Democracy, Protests
6 points by Tomte 68 days ago | 0 comments
India's Battle to Control the Democracy Narrative (theplankmag.com)
How the Modi government moved from improving its global democracy rankings to redefining democracy itself—turning narrative control into a governance strategy.
India, Politics, Democracy, Governance, International Relations
71 points by ethan_smith 73 days ago | 103 comments
Mahmoud Khalil's treatment should not happen in a democracy (theguardian.com)
Forced disappearance, kidnapping, political imprisonment – take your pick. These terms all describe what has happened with the Trump administration’s first arrest for thought crimes, something that should never happen in a democracy.
Politics, Human Rights, Democracy, Law
11 points by n1b0m 73 days ago | 16 comments
Francis Fukuyama Was Right About Liberal Democracy (newrepublic.com)
In 1989, Francis Fukuyama, a little-known Sovietologist and deputy director of the State Department’s Office of Policy Planning, published an article in a Washington journal, The National Interest, that made an audacious, epochal claim—that the world had reached “the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.”
Politics, History, Liberalism, Democracy
5 points by bryanrasmussen 73 days ago | 1 comments
How Silicon Valley's Corrupted Libertarianism Is Dismantling American Democracy (theunpopulist.net)
A shadow revolution is unfolding within the U.S. government. Inside Elon Musk’s DOGE, teams of young tech operatives are systematically dismantling democratic institutions and replacing them with proprietary artificial intelligence systems. Civil servants who raise legal objections are being removed. Government databases are being migrated to private servers. Decision-making power is being transferred from elected officials and career bureaucrats to algorithms controlled by a small network of Silicon Valley elites.
Politics, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Democracy
15 points by clumsysmurf 74 days ago | 3 comments
The Elon Musk Way: Move Fast and Destroy Democracy (theatlantic.com)
Silicon Valley’s titans have decided that ruling the digital world is not enough.
Elon Musk, Democracy, Technology, Politics, Silicon Valley
23 points by zfg 74 days ago | 2 comments
Contra Chrome: How Google's browser became a threat to privacy and democracy (contrachrome.com)
The online version of Scott McCloud’s original Chrome Comic from 2008 can be found at:
Google Chrome, Privacy, Democracy, Web Browsers, Technology
130 points by OuterVale 74 days ago | 86 comments
Why Techdirt Is Now a Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It or Not) (techdirt.com)
While political reporters are still doing their view-from-nowhere “Democrats say this, Republicans say that” dance, tech and legal journalists have been watching an unfortunately recognizable plan unfold — a playbook we’re all too familiar with.
Technology, Politics, Journalism, Media, Democracy
61 points by erentz 80 days ago | 12 comments
Brazilians hail strength of democracy as Bolsonaro is called to account (theguardian.com)
Brazilian democrats have celebrated the strength of their country’s judiciary and institutions after the former president Jair Bolsonaro was left facing political oblivion and jail time for allegedly plotting a coup, in stark contrast to the US’s failure to bring Donald Trump to justice for his anti-democratic acts.
Politics, Brazil, Democracy, Law, United States
31 points by PaulHoule 82 days ago | 9 comments
The Death of Competition in American Elections (nytimes.com)
A vast majority of 2024 races for Congress and state legislatures were decided by low-turnout or meaningless primaries. The trend is making politics more polarized and eroding public trust.
Politics, Elections, United States, Democracy
20 points by whack 89 days ago | 20 comments
The Path to American Authoritarianism (foreignaffairs.com)
Donald Trump’s first election to the presidency in 2016 triggered an energetic defense of democracy from the American establishment. But his return to office has been met with striking indifference. Many of the politicians, pundits, media figures, and business leaders who viewed Trump as a threat to democracy eight years ago now treat those concerns as overblown—after all, democracy survived his first stint in office. In 2025, worrying about the fate of American democracy has become almost passé.
Politics, United States, Authoritarianism, Democracy
77 points by pjmlp 99 days ago | 37 comments