IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2017 - 67

(i.e., prevent the erosion of democracy as predicted by
Michel's iron law of oligarchy).

Collectiveness Overpowers Individuality
The power control problem is exacerbated and democracy is severely challenged when the collective tendency of members (transcendental - relating to
something greater than oneself) overtakes the individual tendency (self-oriented - preserving one's autonomy in society) - as members surrender their individuality
in favor of the collective.
In complex and/or opaque social contexts, this surrender may occur when members no longer perceive correlations between their participation and
observable changes, leading to mistrust in governing
mechanisms, and to political fatalism, apathy, and
dis engagement. Moreover, significant untraceable
changes cause increasing insecurity, diminished
opportunity and economic viability, loss of control
and of values, and a breakdown of trust in society to
fulfil its mission.
This may lead to attempts at completely redefining
society, according to simplified ideological grounds,
defined by a clear set of goals, values, and rules, which
are immutable and strictly enforced. Reality is abandoned in favor of fictional simplicity and facts that do
not fit the ideological framework are simply discarded
or destroyed [14], [15]. Within such ideological movements, members severely underplay their individuality,
surrender their ability to make moral judgements and
to take responsibility for their actions ("only following
orders"), agreeing instead to legitimize the total power
of a ruling system.
Consequently, lack of individual critical thinking and
responsible engagement can cause rules and ruleenforcement processes to take over the collective goals
or ideologies that they were defined to achieve, and
instead become ends in themselves. In extremis, this
leads to totalitarian regimes where strict rule enforcement becomes the only invariant, while the rules themselves may change unexpectedly; and may persist
despite contradictions with the defining ideology and
the destruction of the society implementing them [13].
Furthermore, anti-social acts can be committed [22],
sometimes on large scales and for prolonged periods,
as people are caught into a rigid system of narrow roleplaying, rewards and retributions [15].
Unfortunately, the seeds of such phenomena may be
present in the very way in which societal organizations
can remove responsibility, global visibility, and control from the individuals (e.g., the "nanny state" concept). At the extreme, members become replaceable
parts in a self-reinforcing system. Indeed, when faced
with too much responsibility for taking too complicated
SEPTEMBER 2017

∕

The power control problem is
exacerbated and democracy is
severely challenged when the
collective tendency of members
overtakes the individual tendency.

decisions with no predictable outcomes, members may
become overwhelmed and prefer to give-up both
responsibility and thinking. They may resign to fulfilling
roles devoid of responsibility within a grander ideologydriven system, promising both meaning and security.
Here, the individually-motivated members (minority)
may define the ideology and manage the rules for the
movement that is supposed to attain it. The transcendentally-motivated members (mass majority) follow with
little questioning, relieved of most responsibility to
judge, decide, or take initiative.

"Defense Mechanisms"
In summary, some of the key aspects that sustainable
democratic societies should ensure include various
degrees of stability, security, economic viability, opportunity, inclusivity, and a sense of understanding, predictability, and belonging. The main pathologies emerging
from the attempts to maintain these characteristics
include power accumulation, abuse of power, and
opaqueness of the socio-economic and political system.
Consequently, the boundaries and constraints of these
powers have to be established - e.g., the Roman notion
of ultra vires ("beyond one's legal power or authority"),
the Rule of Law, and the tri-cameral separation of executive, legislative, and judicial authorities.
The main "defense mechanisms" against powerrelated pathologies rely on democratic institutions
[9], which help control power distribution processes
via checks-and-balances and the ability to perform
incremental change. Democratic institutions rely critically on:
■ Comprehensive transparency: a high degree of
public clarity concerning knowledge management
(essential for social cooperation that supports
robust competitive democracies), and institutional
functions and the decision-making processes that
(re)define these (preserving trust and creating
social capital) [12].
■ Responsible engagement, including civic participation, open discussion, critical thinking, and

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

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