This proposal is for a short story that explores the dynamics and tradeoffs of liquid democracy. Liquid democracy is a protocol where voters can delegate their vote to someone they trust, which can then be re-delegated onward.
The story focuses on an enthusiastic but naive high-schooler who, after giving a passionate speech on an upcoming ballot proposition, is delegated thousands of votes from her classmates and neighbors. Her delegated votes earn her an invite to a ritzy junket on the topic, paid for by lobbyists and attended by some of the most influential delegates. Once there, she meets subject matter experts, community leaders, and social media influencers and learns how powerful, wealthy actors attempt to subvert liquid democracy. By the end, she’ll have to decide who she trusts and what she values.
The high school context sticks out to me as a specific situation that could potentially become a source of memeification. In that environment students would also be most incentivized to think about elections and delegation in the context of student government organizations with other people in their immediate social group, where engagement in those activities could also be made more legible for college admissions. (Though the smaller scope could mean lower stakes, which would be bad for storytelling unless the stakes are found somewhere else?) I also wonder if the story of being transported to a ritzy event would be sound more plausible for a college or graduate school student, or someone who wasn’t a student at all.
Or alternatively the scope of the story could be reduced, like maybe by making it about a specific political issue that’s particularly relevant to the high school and the lives of the students (is their funding being cut or something?), and maybe then the student goes to a school fundraising event.
Thinking about what kind of high school it is, and where the school is located, could also help to make the story more specific.
Hey @randylubin , intriguing! I encourage you to think about to what extent the vote that has been delegated can be taken back by voters, if at all. Is there any recourse for the original holder of the vote in terms of having the vote re-delegated back to them?
Another thought: It could be fun to think about who else could (should?) be at this ritzy junket. Maybe go so far as to have some unexpected entities “crash” the event. Looking forward to seeing where you might go with this.
I’m currently thinking that having revokable / re-delegatable votes as a plot point with the protag first losing some votes to a popular influencer and then later getting a slew of votes re-delegated to her when she reveals him accepting favors from a lobbyist.
Folks crashing the event would be interesting - I’ll think about what voices wouldn’t be represented but should be there.