I think the biggest political change is not going to come out of the political system, but out of the environment in which it operates. We the people.
If enough people mobilize around an idea I believe politicians will follow. Or run the risk of alienating a lot of voters. I think that we ourselves have to take more the initiative to make the necessary changes. We can openly and publicly feed politics with ideas. The democratic legitimacy stays in parliament/congress. But there's no monopoly on creating, developing and supporting ideas.
It is my belief that people want to participate, share ideas and develop them together, if the process is set up constructively. Anyone who's a professional in a field or has a passion for a certain subject, has ideas and insights into how things could be better. The trick is to release and free that energy. A continuous process in which one can share ideas / plans and can respond by subject (e.g. Environment, Education, Arts, Economy, Safety, Mindfulness, Innovation, etc) and interact on each other's ideas / plans.
My dream is to eventually have one internet platform for (political) ideas on which one can introduce a topic, which others can respond to and think / work on. With the possibility of working between subjects, interdisciplinary connect and associate.
At the same time it will have to be clear for the user (person's own name / or institution / company, such as with a login name at Facebook or Google+ ) how to find subjects / themes / ongoing discussions, statements, questions, and (shared) conclusions. Therefore a good underlying search system is necessary. A dynamic, holistic and continuous process to maximize the collective intelligence and creativity of people.
Wikipedia is a knowledge platform focused on what we already know. TED is a platform with separate inspiring presentations and ideas. I would like a forward-looking open and public platform with a continuous ongoing process of developing ideas for the benefit of society at large. Not only presenting ideas, but also developing them together. This new public forum could eventually grow into different dimensions (these dimensions also can interact): local, regional, national, continental and global .
There are a few challenges. Getting people to participate in an open and public platform on public subjects. People do not only have to be open to share ideas, but also open for the further development of those ideas. Another challenge is to make a constructive environment on an internet platform in which ideas can be developed and explored, without ending into to chaos or a rigid discussion. How to keep the process creative and open. The infrastructure and the culture of this kind of a platform is very important for its success.
The internet gives the possibility to connect the collective intelligence we have on this world. We all think and feel differently which can give different perspectives on the same issue. Where one is stuck another can find a new and sometimes surprising opening. What if we start to think more of cooperation and less of competition. If we really want to improve all our lives, we need to work more together and less against each other. We're all connected in our humanity.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is powerful.