This series of articles has highlighted recent examples of referendum usage and their implications. In World Leadership, I describe how referendum usage has increased in recent years and how it will continue to increase in the future. I predict that recurring referendum usage—direct democracy—will eventually become part of a new governance basis, which is the way societies use authority to manage their resources, a new fundamental approach to governance.
World Leadership explains how humankind has moved through five societal levels—bands, tribes, chiefdoms, fiefdoms, and nation-states. Each societal level is built around a different governance basis. Bands use consensus; tribes use council consensus; chiefdoms use non-familial authority; fiefdoms use remote authority; and nation-states use rule-of-law. I predict the next governance basis will be direct governance, which is a combination of direct democracy and digital legal infrastructure (more on that another time). The increased use of referendums is a sign the world moving toward this already. Once new tools become available, the move will accelerate.
The first series of articles focused on regionalization. Nations are beginning to develop tighter economic relationships with their neighbors, and this has already begun to challenge globalization. This is an early sign that the world is transitioning to its next societal level, nation-unions. So direct governance is the governance basis that will support the nation-union.
It is important to understand this because the society that first grasps this and develops critical capabilities positions itself for leadership. Citizens who understand this can help their society make wise decisions going forward, helping it to secure its place of influence in the future world. The alternative is to find oneself on the sidelines.
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