Tag: Participatory Democracy

E-Democracy (Redux)

College of Political Knowledge

I recently wrote a piece for Info Ink about E-Democray……a new form of governance that is coming into its own…..if you would like to see what I wrote then click away, my friend…….http://t.co/y2fNA6F

a form of direct democracy that uses information technologies and communication technologies and strategies for political and governance processes. Such processes can be used for governance of local communities, nations and internationally. Democratic actors and sectors in this context include governments, elected officials, the media, political organizations, and citizens/voters.E-democracy aims for broader and more active citizen participation enabled by the Internet, mobile communications, and other technologies in today’s representative democracy, as well as through more participatory or direct forms of citizen involvement in addressing public challenges.

E-Democracy may be getting its first test……In Iceland, the land of the oldest parliament…….

“I believe this is the first time a constitution is being drafted basically on the Internet,” Thorvaldur Gylfason, a member of the constitutional council, told Britain’s Guardian newspaper. “The public sees the constitution come into being before their eyes.”The council is posting draft clauses on its Web site, and the public comments there or on a Facebook page. The panel’s meetings are open to the public and streamed live online.The constitution provides for separation of powers to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis and changes elections to the Parliament, the Althing, which dates from 930.

Will this prove to be the way of the future?

E-Democracy?

Inkwell Institute

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Electoral Politics/Democracy/Political Theory

Paper #5

I have written a post on participatory democracy and how I think it would be a better way of governance….but then there is the question of how would the people stay totally informed…..My friend Quin or Quinesstential Havoc (go to blogroll) has said that technology would be a good starting place….so I decided to start there…….

So why not give wiki a shot at a definition:

a form of direct democracy that uses information technologies and communication technologies and strategies for political and governance processes. Such processes can be used for governance of local communities, nations and internationally. Democratic actors and sectors in this context include governments, elected officials, the media, political organizations, and citizens/voters.E-democracy aims for broader and more active citizen participation enabled by the Internet, mobile communications, and other technologies in today’s representative democracy, as well as through more participatory or direct forms of citizen involvement in addressing public challenges.

E-democracy is a relatively new concept, which has surfaced out of the popularity of the Internet and the need to reinvigorate interest in the democratic process. Access is the key to creating interest in the democratic process. Citizens are more willing to use Web sites to support their candidates and their campaign drives.[5] In the United States, just over 50% of the population votes, and in the United Kingdom, only 69% of citizens vote.

The research indicates that the political process has been alienated from ordinary people, where laws are made by representatives far removed from ordinary people. The goal of e-democracy is to reverse the cynicism citizens have about their government institutions. However, there are increasing doubts about the real impact of electronic and digital tools on citizen participation and democratic governance, and warning against the “rhetoric” of electronic democracy.

I am positive that Quin will have a comment or two……

The Internet provides a distinctive structure of opportunities that has the potential to renew interest in civic engagement and participation. Civic engagement can be understood to include three distinct dimensions: political knowledge (what people learn about public affairs), political trust (the public’s orientation of support for the political system), and political participation (conventional activities designed to influence government and the decision-making process).

The information capacity available on the Internet allows citizens to become more knowledgeable about government and political issues, and the interactivity of the medium allows for new forms of communication with government and elected officials. The posting of contact information, legislation, agendas, and policies makes government more transparent, potentially enabling more informed participation both online and offline.

Broadband,  an up and coming phenom will be the greatest tool for the people’s participation…….but now we ask….will the people actually give a sh*t and actually participate in their government?  Or will they continue to piss and moan about it?  My guess is the later…..

This IS the future of politics and governance….like it or not…does not matter….it is coming and coming quickly!

You Say You Want To Participate?

Inkwell Institute

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Political Theory/Democracy

Paper #4

Participatory Democracy

To begin with I would like to thank my friend Quin of Quintessential Havoc (go to blogroll to visit his site….a well written and thoughtful site) for the headache that he gave me in writing this paper (BTW, he does know I am joking)….this was a bitch to write for there are so many facets to this subject that I could never write it all…..I try to be concise and use simple terms so that everyone can understand the subject…..yes, it is simplistic but you will get over it…..

Quin and I have had numerous exchanges on the subject of participatory democracy and I thought that if more people could grasp the concept that it would make for a good post…..and hopefully more participation (yes, I had to work that in somehow)……

First of all, just what is participatory democracy all about….wikipedia can help with that:

Participatory democracy strives to create opportunities for all members of a political group to make meaningful contributions to decision-making, and seeks to broaden the range of people who have access to such opportunities. Because so much information must be gathered for the overall decision-making process to succeed, technology may provide important forces leading to the type of empowerment needed for participatory models, especially those technological tools that enable community narratives and correspond to the accretion of knowledge. Effectively increasing the scale of participation, and translating small but effective participation groups into small world networks, are areas currently being studied.

The concept is nothing new…actually the Greeks, especially Athens, had this type of democracy….well some what……but the more modern concept came in part from Jean-Jacques Rousseau….

According to Rousseau there are 4 themes that need to be considered for a more direct democracy……1) discourage the development of interests groups that come between the people and government, 2) citizens need to distance themselves from private concerns and be more concerned with the common good, 3) eliminate large economic inequalities between citizens, 4) individuals active involvement in public life……Rousseau believed that the people should be more educated in the public sphere, because then they would be more thoughtful, more responsible, more sympathetic, less servile and would feel more free and unoppressed….(for the most part I am in agreement with Rousseau)……

People should be consulted on ALL issues that effect their lives because only active, democratic involvement in all matters will truly make the society a truly democratic one….for only when the people make the laws will they be a fully democratic electorate….

Now that I have hit upon the major points of participatory democracy (at least in my mind) I do see there being a problem with it…..let us say the electorate does get involved more in the governance then other areas will suffer, at least that is the theory,….the people will be less concerned with listening to music, talking with others and even watching the tube….in other words they will not be too busy for minor BS…they are concerned with governing themselves…..

While participatory democracy is very attractive….it will preserve freedom and equality and would be less effective advancing prosperity…..at least that is the common belief of those opposed to a more direct democracy…..on a more personal note…I would forgo a lot of stuff to have a more active say in my government and their actions….I think more Americans would appreciate being in control of their government……and in turn, in control of the direction of the country and their lives……

What Is With Representative Democracy?

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  Political Theory

Paper #2

A good question…..some will say nothing and yet others will say everything…..after many years of watching and participating in the political process of this country I have come to believe the latter….I have been a radical that believes that the people are the political power and have been an advocate of participatory democracy for all those years….but yet there will be those that say the our present form of democracy is the best…that representative democracy is the best way for the country to behave…..I will disagree.

Is there a good reason that I feel this way?  Yep and a big one……the present system eliminates the people from the process with the exception of elections every so often…all other decisions are made for us…whether we think they are a good idea or not….it is all about what the ruling elites want, not what the people want…..

People are starting to question the validity of the representative democracy for many reason, but the most common are:

1–too much is expected of the process

2–it completely fails to rev the people up or to generate much interest in the process

3–the people gravitate to individuals not issues

4–fails to find solutions to complex problems and issues

Since the days of our Civics classes, which are a thing of the past, we have been taught that the answers to ALL of life’s problems can be fixed by our representatives, whether it be in Washington or at the local level……but there is a bigger truth that is somehow lost in the shuffle and that is that the representative body is too weak to solve the massive problems facing the people…..if an example is needed then just look at the whole recent debate of health reform (at least at the time of this writing)……why would I say this?……the players in the representative game are pre-occupied with the longevity in Washington and everything else is just a bothersome task that has to be attempted……the masses are nothing but a pack that needs to be manipulated….

The representatives seem to be trying less and less to involve the people in the decisions that concern them…..the people are nothing more than a consumer of the political rhetoric that is uttered daily….there is NO more face to face discussion between the pols and the people, instead there is the one way media….that means that the media reports on one aspect and all else matters not……the media has gained so much influence that it leads to a massive manipulation by the elites and because of that the original idea of the Founders is only a vague memory in a historian’s head…..

The Founding Fathers, back in the day, did not want the masses involved in the national discourse….but they thought that a face to face with the reps back home would make the running of the country much easier and more streamline…..originally it probably was, because in the communities everyone knew everyone else…..but today that is NO longer possible….the idea of a face to face debate with the rep is just a pipe dream from the past….

For many many years the representative form of democracy has been failing the people……yet those same people allow it to continue…..why?

The answer is very simple…..Americans allow the rep form of government to continue because they are too passive and badly misinformed…just an example of what I just said…..in a recent survey of self-described Repubs, 63% said that Obama is a socialist….that right there illustrates the completeness of American ignorance…..Americans have a very weak commitment to educate themselves on political matters, they prefer to rely on slogans, sound bites and lies to make the political decsisions….

The champions of Rep dem point to the need for an “educated elite” as the tools of governance…….Rep government is “by the people” but it rests on the wide shoulders of the elite to make it so…..

Is there another way of governance?  For me there is….I prefer what is known as participatory democracy, where the decision are made by the people…..but sadly it will NEVER come to fruit for the very reasons I outlined above……why?   Well as I see it…the masses, for lack of a better word, are at times too intolerant, nationalistic, anti- intellectual, alienated, hateful and violent….issues that would make good governance a nightmare….

So for now we are saddled with the representative form of democracy…the people trust their reps to govern as they intend, which is naive at best….just look at health reform…the majority wants reform but a few ruling elites have decided that it is not to be….and in turn the people get in line and accept the lies as truth……a pathetic ignorance……

There is so many facets to this debate that it would be virtually impossible to summarize it in a 1000 words or less…..I hope that a little more understanding has been had by my readers……..

Next watch for Part 3 of this series entitled Bureaucracy:  Management by paperwork.

The Nation’s Biggest Joke

Yes, there is something that is funny about the conditions in the US….that is if the middle class circling the drain is not funny…..banks controlling everyone’s lives is not funny…..loss of many many jobs is not funny…..but there is humor in the US…….what could make anyone smile?  The Congress of the United States…..that is what deserves a belly laugh…..

Here is a group, elected by the people, or so we are told to believe,  that does nothing to help the very people they claim to represent….the Senate is worse than a dysfunctional family…..this group NO LONGER works for the common good of the country and the House is closing in on the same spot…..

Their sole functions, these days, is to bring the gears of governance to a grinding halt…..no longer are they the voice of the people but rather the voice of their own egos, interests and silly political loyalties…..no longer is theirs the voice of reason as it was intended from the start of the country……they are puppets with the hands of special interests up their butts working their mouths….

Gone are the days of the people, by the people and for the people……America is suffering and suffering badly, yet nothing is moving in Washington with the exception of the mouths of opposition and it is special interest opposition not something people are opposed to in any way…..

It seems to appear that the American people are waking up to the circus that is Washington and especially to the clowns that are the Congress….NO one wants to compromise, but that is what the three branches is all about…..NO one wants to compromise on behalf of the people that sent them to Washington…..No one wants to earn their salary as a Congressperson, instead they want to play at the theatrics of politics…they play to the camera….they play to the sound bite……if I do not produce at my job I am thrown to the wolves, but yet these ass clowns can play and go on retreats after working a week and they get re-elected……..what are you people thinking?

It is time to drop the curtain of the THEATER OF THE ABSURD……they had their shot and the critics are panning them……time to move on and find answers to problems….not create more problems for the problems…..

If you have had enough then DO SOMETHING about it!  You have a vote…USE IT!