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Little Phil

Changing the Relationship between Philanthropy and Democracy…

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Joshua Murchie  and
Jean-Paul Gagnon
Joshua Murchie*
Affiliation:
Little Phil
Jean-Paul Gagnon*
Affiliation:
University of Canberra
*
E-mail: josh@littlephil.org
E-mail: jean-paul.gagnon@canberra.edu.au
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Abstract

This Practitioner's Note considers the disruptive function of Little Phil, a mobile app that seeks to democratize philanthropic giving. Although many of the cultural aspects of philanthropy – such as increased control over donation, tracking the impact of one's giving, and building interpersonal relationships with receivers – can be opened to any person with an app-hosting device and internet access, it cannot supplant the role of big philanthropy and solve Rob Reich's problem: how to domesticate private wealth so that it serves democratic purposes… Little Phil's disruption has in concept gotten us halfway to legitimizing philanthropy. Perhaps the uptake of citizens’ panels by large philanthropic foundations will cover the remaining distance.

Keywords

blockchaincryptocurrencydemocracyfoundationslegitimacyLittle Philphilanthropyplutocracy

Information

Type
Practitioner's Note
Information
Democratic Theory , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , June 2019 , pp. 122 - 127
Copyright
Copyright © Berghahn Books 2019

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