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Loss of Trust

Can we thrive without trust in governments?

This debate was held during the Paris Peace Forum
November 12, 2019

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Introduction

Public trust in governments is near historic lows, as confidence plummets and belief in institutions’ basic fairness and functions erodes each day. How can we restore trust? Or should we not? Should we move trust to new social initiatives and technologies instead of the old formal bodies of government?

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Find discussion questions, educational resources and more on this topic with the Deep Dive curricula. 

loss of trust full debate
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1:00:40
FULL DEBATE

Loss Of Trust

Framing the debate

Demands vary from country to country, but across the world people are fed up with governments’ failure to provide and protect basic rights — and with soaring inequality and anti-democratic systems.

The most familiar proposal comes from Prince Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, a diplomat and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He says we must repair trust by improving the quality of leadership, especially among young people. Brett Hennig, co-founder of the Sortition Foundation and author of The End of Politicians: Time for a Real Democracy, argues for “citizens’ assemblies,” groups of randomly selected citizens who reflect their communities’ diversity and make decisions in place of elected politicians. The final speaker, Toni Lane Casserly, argues for blockchain technologies and rallied for a movement that transforms governments into networks of communities beyond borders, arguing that we should give up on conventional governments and create transnational, decentralized systems.

Intro statements from our participants:

Toni Lane Opening Remarks
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2:53
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Toni Lane Casserly: The argument for blockchain technology

Zeid Opening Remarks
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2:53
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Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein: Rebuild trust in government

LOSS OF TRUST_BRETT HENNIG OPENING REMARKS
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03:27
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Brett Hennig: Replace Politicians With Randomly Selected People

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Speaker Spotlight: Toni Lane Casserly

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Speaker Spotlight: Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein

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Speaker Spotlight: Brett Hennig