"What happened to the Occupy movement?" by Arun Gupta at Aljazeera

[Chathamization]

16. The Problem is Lack of Participation

I think people wrongly assume that the problem is the structure of representative democracy. The problem is the lack of participation. People seem to assume that direct democracy somehow holds back on ambitious people seeking to rule others. The thing is, those people exist in every system, and they will take control in every system unless people participate and are willing to keep an eye out for the power seeking types. If people do this, then there shouldn't be a problem with representative democracy.

Direct democracy tends to work very well in small groups, but can get very messy with larger groups. I think small groups of individuals that then have a representative or spokesperson to connect with the larger groups works really well. It has the benefit of allowing discussion without being overwhelmed, giving individuals a manageable network when they first join, and a way to communicate with the whole.