What is digital democracy?

The idea and practice of using digital technologies such as the internet and AI so that citizens can take part more widely and more deeply in political and public decisions. The book ⿻ Plurality holds up Taiwan as the world's leading example, and presents it as an alternative to AI-centered technocracy and crypto-centered libertarianism.

Apart from casting a vote at election time, ordinary people have few ways to take part in politics. At the same time, the internet has made it easier than ever to gather people's voices. Yet the internet is also often said to be a place that stirs up division. Could digital technology be put on the side of supporting democracy, instead of breaking it? Digital democracy is one answer to that question.

In short

Digital democracy is the idea and practice of using digital technologies such as the internet and AI so that citizens can take part more widely and more deeply in political and public decisions.

In an age when technology is wearing democracy down, the book ⿻ Plurality argues that "technology and democracy can be each other's greatest allies" [1]. And it points to Taiwan as the example out in front [2].

For example

Taiwan's g0v (2012 onward). In 2012, civic hackers (programmers who use technology for the public good), including Kao Chia-liang, founded g0v (pronounced "gov-zero") [3]. g0v took data from government websites (which end in gov.tw) and built alternative versions that were easier to read and use, hosted at g0v.tw [3].

These "forked" (branched-off) versions often became more popular, and some government ministers, like Simon Chang, began "merging" their designs back into government services [3]. "Merge" is the software term for folding changes back in. The book says that g0v "symbolizes the civil-society foundation of digital democracy in Taiwan" [3].

Estonia (from the late 1990s). The book describes Estonia as a country "often cited as the most digitized democratic government in the world" [4]. According to the book, it "pioneered digital democracy earlier than almost any other country, starting in the late 1990s" [4].

Japan's Digital Democracy 2030 (2025 onward). In his commentary on the book's Japanese edition, Ken Suzuki writes that in 2025 he and Takahiro Anno started Digital Democracy 2030, an open-source project [5]. According to Suzuki, it is experimenting with large-scale discussion using generative AI [5].

In more detail

Where the name comes from: three systems of government in a game

Chapter 2-0 borrows the term from a video game [6]. An expansion of Civilization VI, a game that follows the history of civilization, offers three systems of government for the "Information Era": "Synthetic Technocracy", "Corporate Libertarianism" and "Digital Democracy" [6].

The book uses these three to describe, "like Communism, Fascism and Democracy in the 20th century, the great techno-ideological debate of our time" [6]. At the end of the chapter, it writes that large-scale "Digital Democracy" "is a dream we have only begun to imagine, one that requires unprecedented technology to have any chance of being realized" [1].

Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, introduces this third path under the label "Digital democracy / Plurality" [7]. In Buterin's summary, it means building democratic mechanisms that use the internet to gather many people's views in fine detail, so that citizens can make better decisions [7].

Why Taiwan?

Chapter 2-1 says that Taiwan has deep divisions, but beneath them lies common ground: an "overlapping consensus on plural, complex, free, world-facing democracy" [2]. Combined with digital tools that are "easily available to help navigate the resulting ambiguity", the book says, this "has allowed Taiwan to become, in the last decade, the world's leading example of digital democracy" [2].

Chapter 2-2, "The Life of a Digital Democracy", shows this through six cases from Taiwan [8]: g0v, the Sunflower Movement, vTaiwan and Join, the Presidential Hackathon and Quadratic Voting, the response to the pandemic, and Cofacts. For more, see the article on Taiwan's digital democracy.

Not only for governments

In a 2022 lecture, Audrey Tang said: "Digital democracy is not a public-sector-only thing. People can do that in social sector as well." [9] The book also notes that the "democracy" of its Part 5 is broader than the political system of a nation [10].

How it relates to Plurality

The book's description calls its authors "the architects of Taiwan's internationally acclaimed digital democracy" [11]. It names the philosophy behind that success ⿻ Plurality [11].

In a 2024 conversation, Tang said, in substance, that calling it "digital democracy" makes people think of electronic voting machines [12]. The idea could also be used in workplaces and elsewhere, but it was not heard that way. That, Tang said, is why they deliberately coined a new word, Plurality [12]. In other words, as Tang explains it, Plurality is an uncolored new word for an idea that tends to be heard too narrowly, as something like electronic voting, when called "digital democracy" [12].

A long prehistory

Ken Suzuki traces the start of the digital democracy movement back to the idea of "Web 2.0" in 1999 [5]. As what followed, he lists Joi Ito's "Emergent Democracy" (2003), Tim O'Reilly's "Gov 2.0" (around 2009), Code for America (2009), Haruyuki Seki's Code for Japan (2013) and the Obama administration's open government, among others [5].

Chapter 3-3 of the book also introduces the "GovTech" and "Civic Tech" movements, which use technology for government services and for citizens [13]. It mentions Jennifer Pahlka of Code for America, Beth Simone Noveck of The GovLab, Code for Japan and others. The book sees these as movements "to revive the public and multisectoral spirit and ideals of the early internet" [13].

What is debated

It is not about electronic voting. As Tang's remark above shows, the book's interest is not in voting machines [12]. It is in collaboration in general, including discussion, reaching agreement and deciding how to allocate money [10].
Reports that vTaiwan has stalled. A 2023 article in The Daily Beast reported that vTaiwan's momentum had faded years earlier [14]. Citing Jason Hsu, a co-founder and former legislator, it notes that vTaiwan has not been used for any major decision since 2018, and that the government has no obligation to adopt its recommendations [14]. Chapter 2-2 of the book itself acknowledges the drop in participation after COVID-19, the burden on volunteers and the lack of any duty on the government to respond [8].
Does it depend on charismatic individuals? In his commentary on the Japanese edition, Ken Suzuki writes that from interviews with people involved in Taiwan he learned that the practice needed huge offline effort and strong involvement from minister-level people inside government [5]. He also says that since Tang left office, Taiwan's digital democracy has reached a plateau [5]. A report from the same interviews also says that vTaiwan found its way into policy thanks to strong backing from the minister of the time, but that political support weakened afterwards [15]. Suzuki names as challenges making it take root as an institution, and making it genuinely useful to the people who use it (what is called product–market fit) [5].

Where it fits in Plurality

Digital democracy is the subject of Part 2 of the book. Chapter 2-0 describes the gulf between technology and democracy, and the dream beyond it [1]. Chapters 2-1 and 2-2 describe Taiwan's history and practice [2][8]. Chapter 3-3 covers earlier examples in other countries such as Estonia, and civic tech [4][13]. Chapter 4-5 calls the right to access "a cornerstone for achieving digital democracy and social inclusivity" [16].

Related articles: - ⿻ Plurality — the broader idea that includes digital democracy - The three paths — the contrast taken from the game's three systems of government - Taiwan's digital democracy, g0v and vTaiwan — practice in Taiwan - Collaborative technology — the tools side - Digital Democracy 2030 and broad listening — developments in Japan

Sources

Plurality, 2-0 "Information Technology and Democracy: A Widening Gulf", section "Reclaiming our future" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/2-0/eng/ ［CC0］
Plurality, 2-1 "A View from Yushan" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/2-1/eng/ ［CC0］
Plurality, 2-2 "The Life of a Digital Democracy", section on g0v — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/2-2/eng/ ［CC0］
Plurality, 3-3 "The Lost Dao", end of the chapter — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/3-3/eng/ ［CC0］
Ken Suzuki, commentary on the Japanese edition of Plurality (in Japanese) — https://note.com/digitaldemocracy/n/nb8b59a6b775d
Plurality, 2-0, the paragraph on Civilization VI — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/2-0/eng/ ［CC0］
Vitalik Buterin, "Plurality philosophy in an incredibly oversized nutshell" (2024-08-21) — https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2024/08/21/plurality.html
Plurality, 2-2 "The Life of a Digital Democracy" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/2-2/eng/ ［CC0］
Audrey Tang, Lecture at IESE-Shizenkan MBA course (2022-03-22) — https://archive.tw/2022-03-22-lecture-at-iese-shizenkan-mba-course ［CC0］
Plurality, 5-0 "Collaborative Technology and Democracy" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/5-0/eng/ ［CC0］
Plurality, book description — https://github.com/pluralitybook/plurality/blob/86158859464aee75633acd854c656928121a7fd8/contents/english/8-blurb.md ［CC0］
Hirokazu Nishio, "Pluralityは無色の新語として作られた" (Plurality was coined as a colorless new word) (transcript of a 2024-07-26 conversation, in Japanese) — https://scrapbox.io/nishio/Pluralityは無色の新語として作られた
Plurality, 3-3 "The Lost Dao", subsection "Nodes of light" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/3-3/eng/ ［CC0］
Nick Aspinwall, "Taiwan Tried to Digitize Democracy With vTaiwan. It Was a Huge Flop" (The Daily Beast, 2023-11-01) — https://www.thedailybeast.com/taiwan-tried-to-digitize-democracy-with-vtaiwan-it-was-a-huge-flop/
Digital Democracy Research Unit, "現場取材からみえた台湾デジタル民主主義の理想と課題、そして日本発『デジタル民主主義2030』への指針" (2025-02-19, in Japanese) — https://note.com/digitaldemocracy/n/naaa818d919c7
Plurality, 4-5 "Access" — https://www.plurality.net/v/chapters/4-5/eng/ ［CC0］

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