Join Noah Feldman, a Harvard constitutional law scholar and architect of the Meta Oversight Board, alongside Stanford political science professor Andy Hall. They dive into the intricacies of governance from ancient Greece to modern tech. Discussing the evolution of democracy, they explore content moderation challenges, DAOs, and innovative governance models like Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust. Expect deep insights on trust in tech, the role of citizen assemblies, and strategies for balancing corporate power with democratic values.
01:35:38
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Internet Governance Challenges
Internet platforms face governance challenges due to their scale and network effects.
Users want platform governance but struggle with traditional methods like voting with their feet.
insights INSIGHT
Oversight Board Model
The Oversight Board aims to improve platform governance through independent expert decisions and explanations.
This model enhances trust and legitimacy by borrowing from real-world institutions like courts.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Boaty McBoatface & Cultural Norms
The "Boaty McBoatface" incident highlights the challenges of online voting, like low participation and extreme views.
Different cultural norms, like nudity policies, further complicate global platform governance.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Noah Feldman's 'The Three Lives of James Madison' offers a comprehensive look at Madison's evolving political philosophy, highlighting his roles as the father of the Constitution, a partisan leader, and the first wartime president. The book delves into Madison's intellectual growth and his contributions to shaping America's constitutional government. Feldman examines Madison's collaborations, contradictions, and the lasting impact of his work on American politics.
Welcome to web3 with a16z. I'm Robert Hackett and today we have a special episode about governance in many forms — from nation states to corporate boards to internet services and beyond.
Our special guests are Noah Feldman, constitutional law scholar at Harvard who also architected the Meta oversight board (among many other things); he is also the author of several books. And our other special guest is Andy Hall, professor of political science at Stanford who is an advisor of a16z crypto research — and who also co-authored several papers and posts about web3 as a laboratory for designing and testing new political systems, including new work we'll link to in the shownotes.
Our hallway style conversation covers technologies and approaches to governance, from constitutions to crypto/ blockchains and DAOs. As such we also discuss content moderation and community standards; best practices for citizens assemblies; courts vs. legislatures; and much more where governance comes up.
Throughout, we reference the history and evolution of democracy — from Ancient Greece to the present day — as well as examples of governance from big companies like Meta, to startups like Anthropic.
As a reminder: none of the following should be taken as tax, business, legal, or investment advice. See a16zcrypto.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments.
a16z Podcast 
