wiki-style efforts to crowdsource constitutions, assemblies of randomly selected citizens drafting policy proposals, and the use of artificial intelligence to identify clusters of participant opinion independent of political parties.

She highlights, for instance, the importance of boundary-making, of clear and malleable rules, and of mechanisms for dispute resolution and sanctioning rule-breakers.

Perhaps leaning so hard as I have on democracy will only cause it to snap. Perhaps we need another word; perhaps the word can be refurbished and put to better use. Either way, technology is sure to be drafted in the cause. A further fruit of Langdon Winner’s reflections on artifacts and politics is an observation about the amnesia that surrounds in

StoryCorps and Braver Angels