What NEED does this meet?
A way of tackling so-called ‘apathy’ with politics which often just boils down to frustration and uncertainty. If people had a place where they could express uncertainty with a key issue – who to vote for, whether the war in Iraq was justified – and then enter into a meaningful debate with someone who wants to persuade others of their viewpoint, then more voters might be directly engaged with the process of democratic debate which is so vital to underpin democratic voting.
What is the APPROACH?
The idea is for a site which would encourage and engender widespread genuine open-minded debate, and offer people who feel passionately about any issue the chance to change people’s minds who think differently. So for example, in the run-up to an election, there would be areas for people voting for each party, but who were open to persuasion to vote otherwise… or for people who were not minded to vote, but were open to persuasion. Visitors to the site could bid to be a Persuader, perhaps with a pithy sentence. The person to be persuaded (persuadee?) could accept, and then an open exchange of five messages each way would take place – through the web site, so people would not have each other’s email address and could stop contact at any time. After five each way, the person to be persuaded would state whether or not they had been persuaded from their original position. You could score people on how many people they had persuaded on an issue. You could run one on the European constitution, when the referendum comes round, or have an area where people could say they are open to persuasion on any topic at all. People could take part anonymously.
What are the BENEFITS to people?
People often want to become involved with debate on an issue, but do not want to attend a political meeting or talk to a politician on the doorstep. This will make their lives easier. It will also be a good tool for politicians and lobbyists to see if they can persuade people of their viewpoints, to hone ideas and tactics, a valuable debating training ground.
What is the COMPETITION?
I am not aware of anything similar.
What BUDGETS & LOGISTICS are required?
I think a competent programmer could build it within a year, given good management and direction. A beta version could be started on a small scale. I think it would be of a similar difficultly to PledgeBank.
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