E Democracy Slideshare
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The document discusses the potential of e-democracy to transform government through greater citizen participation and information sharing online. It outlines a 5-way model of information flow between government, citizens, and representatives. It argues that governments must embrace e-democracy through new public online spaces, multidimensional communication, integrating e-democracy processes, maintaining high-quality information, and ensuring equal access. While progress has been slow, examples like peer-to-patent and idea-scale show how e-democracy can facilitate discussion and recruit widespread participation.
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E Democracy Slideshare
- 1. Dean McKeown the potential of e-democracy
- 2. could you imagine waiting 40 years for electricity?
- 3. citizens will expect to be heard if they are asked to contribute.
- 4. "WikiLeaks has had more scoops in three years than the Washington Post has had in 30." Clay Shirky
- 11. knowledge providers and knowledge seekers
- 12. the internet as common source of information
- 13. common ties of interest and passion
- 17. Facilitate and summarize the discourse
- 18. Maintain high quality information online
- 19. Recruit widest possible participation
- 22. 1996 - 2008 Only two bills…
- 23. 2007 CNN YouTube Debates
- 24. examples Peer to Patent http://edemocracy.ideascale.com
Editor's Notes
- Municipal Elections in OctoberMy wife and I arrived at the polling station 10 minutes before it closedPlace was emptyIt took maybe 5 minutes to actually vote and I asked myself, is this the extent of Canadian democracy?The next day, I looked at the newspaper to see who won, but didn’t bother to read the articlesTechnology is the enabler not the solutionChanges rapidly every 3 to 6 monthsExample: did you know that the government auctions wireless spectrums to the highest bidder? they have discovered a new spectrum that could allow a single wireless switch to cover a city block or a university campus?1999 – CRTC decided not to regulate the internet no Canadian content rules expect “the free market” to expand internet access to rural areas Deferral accounts for the big three companies – Bell experienceBarriers to citizen participation are not technical – they are cultural
- Technology is rarely accepted when first introducedNeed to understand how it can be usedConsumers determine final outcomeEdison’s first power generating station was built in Manhattan in 1882Rural Electrification Administration started in the 1930s and led to huge innovation in agricultural production private sector had to wait for government interventionCharlesLeadbeater – mountain bike example – innovation comes from creative collaboration – role of users and consumersCame from young users who were frustrated with existing racing and touring bikes – took the best of each style and made a new type of bikeYochaiBenkler – enbracing consumers as a huge authority with tremendous capacity to contributeExamples of Wikipedia and Linux with Apache Web server
- Governments will need to evaluate their programs of interaction and make sure the system they developed, is appropriate and effectively meets their objectives
- Shirky Principle - "Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution,"
- Our democracy was set up to represent Canadians from a distance – we elect a representative who goes to Ottawa and citizens get to see or talk to them a few times a year.MPs are often forced to vote along party lines so the individual’s opinion is less noteworthy. How representative are they?The very infrastructure of our democratic institutions are rather foreboding – not exactly homey!The British literally call their visitors to Parliament “Strangers” – each of whom must swear an oath of silence prior to entering the balcony overlooking the parliamentary chamber.
- G to c - relies on the mass media to convey informationC to g - is very limited, the government rarely looks to citizens for input and citizens do not believe what they have to say matters to the governmentR to c – only really occurs during elections – reps want to gain support of their citizens, use local media but there is little opportunity to learn about the representative’s feelings re certain policy issuesC to r – very limited, rarely involved with political parties, able to send email, letters and phone calls can be sent but citizens do not believe they will affect policyC to c – extremely important in a democratic society but certainly in declineE-democracy and the utilization of technology can be used to effectively open these lines of communicationGoes back to trust – in Canada. We generally trust the traditional components of our democracy – parliament, voting – but this trust is declining and we are losing interest in politics. We need to remember it took a long time for citizens to trust our institutions. It will take time to gain trust in new ones.Canadians switch the channel away from politics and political discourse in favour of entertainment.We need to provide safe places on the internet that can be trusted, where citizens are free to discuss the issues of the day and where a citizen can easily find a channel for their discourse when they are interested in an issue and they will feel/sense that their discourse is considered by those in power before the final decisions are made and policies are determined.
- The success of the internet is based on the interactivity of the medium. If government expects its citizens to provide valuable input, government in turn must respond to the demands of people in genuine ways. The ideas must be heard and responded to.Government needs to provide the on-line services and support them.Interestingly enough, Canada has a more free market-based approach here then the USA. Canada has left it the large telcos to provide internet access to all geographies of Canada. They have been slow to provide service to rural areas in Canada.Political parties need to use the internet more than just replicating print brochures. Look to the Hungarian Liberal Party; they hold everything online from political conferences, policy deliberations and leadership elections and member meetings.
- Who doesn’t like to answer a question, they know the answer to?Obama said, “The challenges we face today – from saving our planet to ending poverty – are simply too big for government to solve alone. We need all hands on deck.”
- Provides access to people on a common playing field.Equal access to information allowing citizens to make their own decisions. People can pursue their interests and research the topics that are directly applicable to them. There should be no filters or moderators. The individual picks their topics – nothing is forced upon them“Data deprivation is one of the main causes of public silence.” (OECD,pg 156)Government needs to create opportunities to be heard for those who are not normally heard from – disabled, those for whom English is not their first language, poorTechnology can be the common denominator where successful communication beginsSocial media technologies allow the individual to create groups that interest them, join groups that interest them and collaborate with other who share those interests – all at essentially no or very little cost.They provide a means where collaboration is easy – collaboration is the new “distinct form of democratic participation.”
- Internet allows expression beyond geographical or territorial borders. Geographically diverse communities can use the internet to express their views and provide a source of news to other Canadians around the globe or across the country.Groups can use the internet to develop a base of support – both financial and participatory.“those who have become frustrated by years of silence shall be invited as equals into the global conversation, those who have grown self-absorbed and arrogant shall be encouraged to listen.” (OECD, pg 159)Enhances individual autonomy – one of the core values of liberal democracy as defined by Corry and Hodgetts “the liberation and respect for individual personality”However, this is done within the conditions of social order - individuals must show self restraint - mutual respect - sense of collective responsibilityAccept the authority of the State but stand up and resist coercive acts of oppressionFreedom of ConscienceFreedom of SpeechFreedom of AssociationBack to the text:“freedom can be maximized only if citizens have some part in the process of decision-making”“In an ideal democracy, each person would participate directly in all government decisions.”In the 1800s, this wasn’t seen as feasible – how could people travel to Paris, London, Washington or Ottawa to help govern?Idea of representative government with fair and competitive elections was created.E-democracy changes this – allows the ordinary citizen to have direct access to the government and to help it make decisions and comment on those decisions and ensure the decisions were the right ones with extensive follow up , review and criticism.
- Create new public spaceAway from the commercial sites we have to day, trust worthy search enginesMultidimensional, interactive communications5 levels of communicationC2C very importantIntegrate e-democracy processesWith existing constitutional structures and developmentsFacilitate and summarize the discourseEnsure the discussion is trustworthy and fulsomeAccessible to all even after the policy decisions have been made – transparencyNeed to be able to learn from what has happened and been said alreadyMaintain high quality information onlineEnable citizens to get the information they are particularly interested inInformation must be reliableRecruit widest possible participationInvite a wide range of voices to the discussionSupport marginalized groups and provide accessEqual access to the democratic process
- Canadian federal electionpolicy considerations were limited to the high cost of text messages and the use of phishing for criminal intentNDP went a little bit further requiring Canadian ISP be legally responsible in cases of child pornography distributionUS Presidential ElectionCampaign lasts at least two yearsinternet access for all AmericansObama went further with the introduction of a CTO position to further e-governmentGovernment intervention to provide access to internet and resources100 page document major policy announcements calling for the use of cutting-edge technology to create a transparent and connected democracy that opens up government to its citizens…” (Jaeger, pg 70)Use of technology to support the use of e-government and information technology investment to address major problems such as healthcare, climate change and the ability to respond to emergenciesFull 10 months earlier than McCainObama was the first candidate to really use technology to reach out to votersCollected 13 million email addressesSent out over 7000 targeted emails totaling over a billion emails sent during the campaignSwing state voters were sent 3 text messages on election day reminding them to voteVolunteers developed social media sites, actively blogged, iphone application with the ability to “notify” all your contacts of events and messages of the campaignObama received over $10 million within 24 hours of Sarah Palin’s speech at the republican convention“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.” (Jaeger, pg 76)McCain – website received 160,000 hits
- “Only two bills with explicit information policy implications came before these committees and resulted in observations being reported back to the government.These included amendments to the broadcasting act and proposals for changes in the fees related to broadband spectrum use.” (Jaeger, 2009)
- Under 30 represented 41% of participationElevated engagement by all minoritiesWomen represented less than menUnable to determine socioeconomic statusDuring the election, 41% of those under 30 used YouTube for campaign information54% - the percentage of teens who text their friends daily, up from 38% of teens texting friends daily in February 2008 (Kohut, 2008)