....Those arguing for more direct democracy will reply that regular polls of the electorate should go a long way towards avoiding irrational policymaking. If voters find that they have made conflicting decisions, then another ballot can be held to resolve them. Moreover, even in a direct democracy not all intermediary institutions, such as political parties, government departments or even legislatures, will necessarily be abolished. Legislatures might survive to monitor elected governments, just as they do today, and to formulate and propose legislation. Voters might confine themselves to making the final decision about what legislation to enact. Evidence from the hundreds of initiatives held in Switzerland and in American states does not bear out fears that voters will take undue risks or oppress minorities. Electorates are generally risk-averse, upholding the status quo unless they are thoroughly convinced that change is needed.
- Worryingly, the same technological trends that are so rapidly eroding privacy in the West could put powerful tools in the hands of repressive regimes. As more human interactions are conducted and recorded electronically, as the ability to analyse databases grows and as video and other offline surveillance technologies become cheaper and more effective, it will become ever easier for authoritarian governments to set up systems of widespread surveillance. George Orwell's Big Brother of "1984" might yet become a reality, a few decades later than he expected.
- Many of these choices will not be a matter for legislatures or courts, but will involve the informal renegotiation of interpersonal relations. This has already begun. For most people the convenience of e-mail, mobile phones and voicemail has proved irresistible, but many have also begun to feel the downside of being constantly in touch. Some feel obliged to respond to messages immediately. Others try to limit the expectations of their boss or family by taking longer to reply, or switching off. As it becomes easier to know where people are at any time, and to communicate with them, the burdens as well as the benefits of being "always on" will become more acute, and private bargains between workmates, friends, lovers, parents and children will have to be struck.
All of this is well considered and fascinating, but it is also a good bet that something - technological, societal, political, whatever - will happen to send the future careening off in another, unforeseen direction entirely.
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