This theme is touched on in a Wikivote PowerPoint presentation, which argues that the “technological capabilities of the Internet provide the basis for the transition from the contemporary society of representative democracy to the Internet society of direct democracy.” The presentation makes a good deal of sense, with talk of creating a platform for discussion, bringing in interest groups, the creation of an elite of public experts who are motivated by career advancement and being recongised for their expertise.
Writing about the police law last year, it smelt to me a little bit too much like Potemkin democracy, participation without true representation, or to use Rebecca MacKinnon’s phrase, “networked authoritarianism.” Crowdsourcing drafting laws is also a useful means of sentiment analysis, a high priority for the Kremlin’s “political technologists.”