Practical Democracy: From Norway to South Carolina
With the US mid-term elections coming up in November and opinion polls in Europe tracking the shift away from mainstream parties, the ups and downs of electoral democracy are increasingly featuring in the news cycle.
What role direct digital democracy could play, is less explored, but an interesting project in South Carolina is seeking to change that.
Also in this newsletter:
SDI Managing Director Dr. Roslyn Fuller is coming to Norway to debate the promises - and common pitfalls - of democractic innovation
The Norwegian Journal for Interaction Design and Architecture(s) is looking for submissions for a special edition on Digital Democracy
SDI is putting the finishing touches on our third review for the 2026 SDI Digital Democracy Report
True Representation in South Carolina
Digital Democracy and democratic innovation sound great on paper - but can they actually be used to change the fate of nations? In an exciting development, Episdemos - the eDemocracy vendor we featured in our last newsletter - is putting that question to the test in the upcoming US congressional elections by supporting a candidate running on a direct democracy mandate. While the project - dubbed the True Representation Movement - is still small, it is one of the first examples of a candidate committing to directly poll their constituents on a bill by bill basis and promising to vote accordingly. You can follow the campaign on https://truerepmovement.com
Can Digital Tools Renew Democracy in Norway?
Our managing director Dr. Roslyn Fuller is coming to Oslo in late May to discuss the state of digital, direct democracy with a panel of local experts. Organised by Norwegian organisation SoCentral in association with Sveinung Legard of Oslo Metropolitan University, the talk will explore how the principles of digital democracy can be applied succesfully to drive meaningful citizen participation, and why attaining political leverage, not shiny engagement metrics, is the true measure of people power.
If you are - or know anyone who is - in Oslo on the 27th of May, you can sign up here to attend the event (free of charge - but limited places remaining).
Submissions Wanted: Interaction Design & Architecture(s) Journal
While planning the event in Norway, SDI was contacted by the Norwegian Interaction Design & Architecture(s) Journal, who are currently in the process of launching a special issue of the journal on the theme of Democratic Technology Design. While the original submission deadline is May 15th, the editors have offered to extend it for subscribers of this newsletter until May 31st.
For submissions, follow the instructions here and email Nicholas Stevens at nichoss@ifi.uio.no to let them know about your submission.
Coming Up: 2026 SDI Digital Democracy Report
In the next edition of the newsletter, we will feature Spanish participation platform Consul. As one of the few full-featured applications in the eDemocracy space, including functionality for Decision-Making, Deliberation, Ideation, Public Consultation and Participatory Budgeting, Consul has made a name for itself owing to its unique distribution model: While the software itself is open-source, an extensive network of partners is helping clients (primarily local councils) in multiple countries get the best out of the technology. We are looking forward to featuring their platform in the next newsletter. You can find the current version of our Digital Democracy Report on our website here.
For more on the status of digital democracy, check out our website at
http://www.solonian-institute.com
Sincerely,
Solonian
Democracy
Institute