White Hat Politicians

Edward de Bono identified several types of thinking. He associated each with a coloured hat: White Hat Thinking is all about collecting information (imagine a white piece of paper). It would be of great benefit to Interactive Democracy (indeed any democracy) for politicians to identify what information is required for each issue and to fund the gathering of that information, perhaps through independent academics. This should be reported via a link on the ID web site.

(Edward de Bono created the term "lateral thinking")

Experienced Politicians

Interactive Democracy doesn't diminish the need for experienced politicians. They are required to run parliament, form a government and create laws. They need to govern the process. But professional politicians sometimes lack the specialised experience of other professions for which policies are made. One advantage of ID is that it brings a vast array of life experience to bear on political decisions: the experience of doctors, nurses, teachers, soldiers and every other area of society. That adds colossal depth and breadth to political life.