Make Democracy More Democratic with Sway

An alternative democracy app is being launched ahead of the US Presidential Election. 

“Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner” says James Bovard. How many of us agree?

With over 69 million voting age millennials (18-35 year olds) the results to the upcoming US Presidential Election will be interesting to say the least. But figures from the 2012 election paint a bad picture in terms of turnout. Only 46% of 69 million voted in 2012. A much lower turn-out in comparison to older generations: 69% for Baby Boomers and 61% for Gen X.

Why so low?

Most of us don’t believe that our vote has an impact. We don’t think politics represents us because we don’t fit neatly into the boxes presented to us by politicians, and we don’t think we can affect politics in any way. Yet some of the most far-reaching political decisions made in our time are being made without our say or our knowledge. We need to change this and to do so; we believe those most affected by an issue should have a louder voice in its outcome. For millennials, the major issues include unaffordable housing, lack of jobs, debt from college fees and the state of the environment. Now imagine an app that enables and encourages us to look at vital issues that impacts us all in a way that goes beyond party politics. It exists and it is called ‘Sway’. Sway is the app that will give everyone, young and old, greater understanding and knowledge of the key issues being debated.

What is it?

Living in a monoculture where our world views are influenced and driven by the same media sources and the same group of friends and colleagues on social media who all share the same point of view. We are in a ‘filter-bubble’ where our exposure is reduced and our ability to have a healthy and informed debate is severely prevented. Sway is a new and free-to-use app that helps us look at issues in a way that surpasses party politics.

Sway is designed to encourage the spread of ideas and enables its audience to understand the world by being exposed to a wide range of opinions, facts and ideas from diverse, independent and, to avoid bias, initially unidentified sources. Users can choose the level to which they can examine any one subject, from headline ideas and bullet points at Level 1 to in-depth policy analysis at Level 5. At every level, the user can vote in order to get to the next deeper level of knowledge. The more levels the user explores and votes on, the greater sway their next vote has.

Sway allows users to go back and view how their vote has swayed as they have read and learned more; they can then share what they have learned with others in order to encourage debate and learning. The aim is to demonstrate to users how their knowledge informs their voting and ultimately compare the final swayed vote to the conventional US electoral system and the presidential race. The initial launch of the idea is to encourage more people to vote more thoughtfully in the upcoming Presidential Election. As people explore the app and engage with more and more issues from gun crime to affordable healthcare and match their views with those of the candidates, they may switch from Clinton to Trump, or vice versa.

Sway will then move onto covering other elections in the UK and mainland Europe.

Sway uses gamification technology and will be launched in time for the US Presidential Election but will run beyond that to become a global tool for anyone interested in the important issues of the modern age, for anyone that wants to better understand their own beliefs. It’s for anyone that wants to get involved, make a difference and use their sway.

The app is available globally for Apple and Android users.

For more information, visit www.swaydemocracy.com