As developed by

geolibertarian Geolibertarianism is a political and economic ideology that integrates libertarianism with Georgism. It favors a taxation system based (as in Georgism) on income derived from land and natural resources instead of on labor, coupled with a minim ...

political economist Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour mar ...

Fred E. Foldvary Fred Emanuel Foldvary (May 11, 1946 – June 5, 2021) was a lecturer in economics at San Jose State University, California, and a research fellow at The Independent Institute. He previously taught at Santa Clara University and other colleges. He w ...

, cellular democracy is a model of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

based on multi-level bottom-up structures in either small neighborhood governmental districts or contractual communities.

Councils

In cellular democracy, a

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

such as a county or city is divided into neighborhood districts with a population of about 500 people, with about 100 to 200 households. The

voters Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

in the district would elect a council. The small size of districts would allow for more informed voters at a smaller cost. Representatives, plus one alternate, would be elected to the council. This would be a "level-1 council". A region containing 10 to 20 neighborhood districts would then vote for a "level-2 council". Each level-1 council elects a regular representative and an alternate to the level-2 council from its own regular membership. A further region containing several level-2 councils would comprise a level-3 council, each level-2 council again electing a regular and an alternate representative to level 3. The level-2 representative sent up to the level-3 council would be replaced by his or her alternative. The

hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

would continue indefinitely, depending on the size of the state, or even expanding worldwide.

Secession

Councils could '

secede Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a polity, political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former republics of ...

', creating a new branch of councils that would be incorporated back into the system.

Taxation

Each level 1 council would be able to select its source of

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...

Property taxes A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

would be likely, and Foldvary favors the

land value tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land (economics), land without regard to buildings, personal property and other land improvement, improvements. It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation ta ...

as the most efficient, just, and unintrusive option. Every council above council-1 gets its money from the council below it.

References

* Foldvary, F. E. (1997)
"Democracy Needs Reforming"
*

. (1999)
"Recalculating Consent."
* *

. (2008). Small-Group, Multi-Level Bottom-UP Democrac

* Ward republic, "Ward Republic" {{DEFAULTSORT:Cellular Democracy Types of democracy Georgism

Councils

Secession

Taxation

See also

References