Abstract

Theorists argue that technological development since the Industrial Revolution has created complications for democratic government. Many of these theorists believe the complications can be overcome, although they disagree about the appropriate solution. I contribute to this debate by proposing to decentralize the legislature of a technological society so that the general public has greater influence over the decisions that shape their lives. My argument for this solution is based on a description of a technological society and an analysis of three problems complex technological systems create. ;I define technology as the human activities required to produce, use and maintain material objects created to enhance human capabilities, not just the material objects human beings create. While all societies have technology, a technological society is distinguished from less technological societies by the nature of its technological activity. In a technological society there is a connection between technology and scientific institutions, an increased reliance on complex technological systems, and a resemblance between the society and a technological system. ;In a technological society technology might have inevitable effects on society and technological environments might contribute to social and self-alienation. I argue that these are coherent theories for understanding human existence in a technological society. The effects these theories predict justify greater participation by the general public in decisions about technological development. The complexity of technological environments, however, raises a third problem: whether or not the general public has the technical competence to make useful contributions to decisions about technological issues. I argue that the general public can participate in political decisions about complex technological issues even though it might lack technical competence about those issues. Throughout the dissertation I emphasize that the general public is typically excluded from collective political decisions about technological development at moments when human beings have the most control over the constitution of their technological environments. To increase the general public's influence over collective political decisions about technological development, I conclude that legislative institutions should be decentralized into specific policy domains and some members of these institutions should be selected through a lottery system