I am not proposing that we change masters. I am proposing that citizens cease to have them.
Demosciocracy begins with a conviction: no individual, party or institution should be able to retain exclusive control over decisions that affect everyone’s lives.
We need representatives, expertise and institutions. But their purpose must remain to serve the population. Holding public responsibility should be neither a career to protect nor a privilege to pass on: it should be a temporary duty, subject to scrutiny and carried out openly.
Values that demand action
Freedom, dignity, responsibility, solidarity: these words mean nothing unless they transform how we make decisions and live together.
What is freedom worth when citizens feel heard only as elections approach? What is responsibility worth when no one answers for the consequences of their decisions? What is solidarity worth when the difficulties facing local communities become mere campaign talking points?
I want a political system in which citizens have a meaningful role between elections, decisions are explained, commitments can be checked and mistakes can be corrected.
Trust cannot be decreed. It is built through practices that make it possible.
Respect beliefs, reject their exploitation
I respect religions and everyone’s freedom of conscience, without personally being convinced by any religious doctrine. My travels around the world have led me to question how people can use beliefs, texts or ideologies to legitimise their authority and secure the submission of others.
This criticism concerns the use of power, not the conscience of believers. It also applies to political doctrines that claim a monopoly on truth.
In substance, I see a strong affinity between the Pope’s appeals for peace, human dignity and responsibility, and the values of Demosciocracy.
The convergence I feel between my Demosciocratic thinking and the Pope’s appeals for peace therefore does not amount to religious adherence. I can recognise the strength of someone’s words without sharing their faith.
Everyone must be free to believe, to doubt or not to believe, without losing their freedom or their place in society.
Combat violence without silencing citizens
I condemn the violence of those who destroy, intimidate or seek confrontation, including when they act as black blocs. Anger may be justified; it does not give anyone unlimited rights.
But protecting society also requires preserving the freedom to protest and challenge authority. Equating protesters with vandals would be just as unjust as justifying destruction in the name of a cause.
Likewise, destabilisation operations and foreign interference must be countered on the basis of established facts. Determining responsibility requires evidence. A society does not become stronger by replacing investigation with blanket suspicion.
This requirement applies to every party, every power and every authority.
Represent differently, decide methodically
At the heart of my project is citizen representation renewed through random selection, in a spirit comparable to jury selection. I also advocate representation of trades and professional realities, so that decisions benefit from the experience of those who work, produce, provide care, teach and sustain our communities.
Appointments must ensure equal representation of women and men. This principle must be enshrined in the Constitution of Demosciocracy and guaranteed by the selection procedures.
However, random selection alone cannot guarantee good decisions. To make this project robust, we must provide training for the citizens selected, giving them time, resources and access to contrasting expert assessments.
Computerised selection must itself be transparent and verifiable. Replacing opaque political selection with an incomprehensible computer process would return no power to citizens.
Professional representation must also serve the public interest, rather than becoming the exclusive defence of particular interests.
Experts must inform the choices; representatives must debate them, justify them and answer for them.
Start with local communities, build shared responsibility
Local communities are where decisions take tangible form: a functioning school, an accessible service, a business that hires, a protected river, residents able to live with dignity.
Demosciocracy must start from these realities. Decisions should be made as close as possible to the people affected, while maintaining national solidarity and rights shared by all.
Local decision-making must not become everyone for themselves. It should help us understand needs better and share responsibility more effectively.
Make peace a political imperative
In countries at war, populations bear the heaviest consequences of their leaders’ decisions. I reject the treatment of human beings as resources available to serve ambitions of power.
Seeking peace requires protecting populations, supporting diplomatic efforts and holding accountable those whose decisions shape our collective future.
No political system can promise to eliminate every conflict. But it can seek to limit arbitrary power, make decisions more transparent and give greater weight to those who will bear their consequences.
This is the direction in which I want to take Demosciocracy.
A project to build together
I am not asking you to replace one belief with another. I invite you to examine a proposal, discuss its mechanisms, expose its weaknesses and help improve it.
Let us organise meetings, debates and video conferences. Let us test ideas against practical difficulties. A way of thinking that seeks to make citizens free must itself be open to debate.
Demosciocracy will have to prove its worth through its rules, practices and results.
Read, criticise, propose and share this project with your friends and acquaintances. I need all of you to give it a solid foundation and make it a collective endeavour.
Our shared future deserves our participation. Let us all build it together, day after day, for our peoples and the generations to come.
Long live Demosciocracy!
Jacques Rouchaud
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