"Open government" - Public discussion of bills of the Government of Russian Federation
The trend of public online panel discussions is continuing its development. The relevant President’s decree has been released in February. Now media reports that on 1st of June the discussion system of legislative initiatives is going to be launched on the government.ru website – the program name is “Open Government”. Every citizen can be involved in legislative system via electronic voting.
The first bill under discussion will be “The bill on the basics of healthcare of Russian citizens”. The discussions are going to be coordinated by the Public Opinion Foundation. The biggest problem with national discussions is when they are not moderated the main thread will be buried under unnecessary noise.
All of the bills that could have social response are going to be submitted on online discussion.
Earlier, the Presidential Police Act was discussed at the similar special platform.
The “Open government program” could be useful in the elections season, so the opposition could not use unpopular initiatives for counter-agitation.
And what do you think about the effectiveness of such government initiatives?
Tags: Federation, Government, Open, Russia., Russian, bills, egov, gov2.0
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alexander B. Howard on
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Alena: In the context of the recent history and actions of the Russian government, is calling this an "open government program" accurate?
As with other government, Russia is moving forward with "e-government." E-government is a natural outgrowth of the historic moment.
Open government, as many advocates and students of history understand it, is associated with transparency and good government initiatives that expose fraud or corruption.
Are you saying that the prime minister and president will actually be bound by an expression of public opinion online? That the Russian government will tolerate dissent or criticism of its policies?
What has been the outcome for journalists who have exposed goverment waste? What about Mr. Khordokovsky's case and imprisonment?
Does adoption of open government online mean that the government will respect freedom of the press offline?
Can you please present more evidence as to why observers should trust that dissent will not be squelched and that these government initiatives are not the equivalent of Potemkin villages for the Internet? -
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