Starting a Money Revolution Jan-Willem Burgers VU University Amsterdam Coin & Company February 11, 2016

Overview The contention ◦ Monetary reformers should unite to support a citizens assembly on monetary reform 1. Background on democratic theory 2. The proposal 3. The justification

What is a citizen assembly?

Part I. Background on democratic theory

Bush tax cuts (2001) and (2003) “Much of the public was unclear about basic facts in the realm of tax policy; some of what the public did know was patently false; and a remarkable number of people, when offered the chance, said that they had not thought about a policy innovation whose consequences are reckoned by experts in the trillions of dollars” (Bartels 2008, 177). Have you heard of the proposal to remove taxes on corporate dividends? “Never” (61%) Does the estate tax only apply to the very wealthy? “No” (66%) Should the tax cuts expire in 2011 or be made permanent? “Don’t know” (60%)

The Public Affairs Act Bishop (1975; 1995) What do you think about the Public Affairs Act? Did interviewees have an opinion? ◦ Without context: more than 30% ◦ With minor probing: more than 40% ◦ With partisan cues: more than 50%

Opinion polling evidence The evidence since the 1950s is unequivocal 1. Citizens are poorly informed on political matters, and are often misinformed 2. Political judgments are more like knee- jerk reactions and vague impressions than considered judgments

Reaction 1 Evidence shows we need experts for decisions

Reaction 2 1. Citizens are rationally ignorant ◦ Costs to becoming politically informed ◦ Little chance at influence 2. Media focused on narrative, conflict, and drama Why are we so surprised that citizens have so little knowledge and cannot form sound judgments about political matters? ◦ Exceptions: “constitutional moments”

Mini-publics A mini-public is a body of diverse, ordinary citizens that gets to cast a judgment on some political issue Crucial experiential differences ◦ Time ◦ Money ◦ Forum ◦ Institutional environment ◦ Access to information An example ◦ British Columbia Citizens Assembly

Evidence from mini-publics Findings ◦ Able to process political information ◦ Able to weigh political information ◦ Able to internalize deliberative norms ◦ Provide insights to policymakers ◦ Consensus BC Citizens Assembly example ◦ Many became experts on technical details ◦ Match preferred criteria to systems ◦ High quality of communication  At town halls discussion was “uneven, riddled with stubbornly held assumptions, and often dominated by voices representing the business, labor, or political communities”

Historical roots Until the end of the 18 th century, elections were seen as “aristocratic” and lot as “democratic” ◦ Rousseau: “lot is the method more natural to democracy” The prevalence of citizen participation historically ◦ Greek city states; Rome; European city states ◦ Jury systems (Dutch elitism)

Have we answered Plato? That is, do we have reasons to believe that we should not only have government by experts? No, we’ve only shown that people are rationally ignorant and they are quite capable of decision-making So why should we ever have popular decision-making?

Reasons for democracy Intrinsic values ◦ Natural rights ◦ Contractual rights ◦ Fairness Consequentialist values ◦ Educational value ◦ Epistemic value

Part II. The proposal

A Citizens Assembly on Monetary Reform Select 80 citizens ‘randomly’ ◦ Some elimination criteria (e.g., age) ◦ Internal removal procedures ◦ Welcome self-selection effects Express a preference on monetary models ◦ Free-banking ◦ Central Banking ◦ Government controlled

A Citizens Assembly on Monetary Reform The assembly convenes for a 12 month period, one weekend per month ◦ Educational sessions; listen to expert testimony; working groups; plenary sessions The members will have a reasonable salary

A Citizens Assembly on Monetary Reform End product: a report that contains their findings The report will be used for a number of purposes ◦ Input into the Dutch initiative system ◦ Media distribution ◦ General input for monetary reform

The experiential aspects 1. Time 2. Money 3. A physical forum 4. An institutional environment 5. Access to information

Part III. The justification

Reasons for monetary reformers Essentially, the citizens assembly results can be employed 1.to gauge the soundness of your ideas 2.as a powerful political tool

Reasons for monetary reformers 1. Legitimacy ◦ Value argument ◦ Stability argument 2. Insight into value judgments 3. Insight into new alternatives 4. Insight into the desire for political reform 5. Insight into education on monetary reform 6. A powerful political tool

THE END