Maxwell School to offer #electionclass on social media during 2012 presidential campaign

Reposted from the Maxwell School’s official press release: In the lead-up to a presidential campaign that promises to capitalize on the internet more than any previous election, a class at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School will allow graduate students to study the role of social media in campaigns and government. In the fall semester, Assistant ProfessorRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: CIA Refused to Waterboard Senator

Whether or not waterboarding is torture is apparently up for debate. What isn’t up for debate, however, is whether or not the CIA feared waterboarding would give Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) a heart attack. In a new book released by former CIA official Jose Rodriguez, he disclosed that the senator requested to be waterboarded, claimingRead… Read more »

Free copy of Democratizing Deliberation for all Book Club members!

Here’s one more reason to sign up for NCDD’s first online book club… the Kettering Foundation wants to send a free copy of Democratizing Deliberation to all book club members! Sign up at www.ncdd.org/community/bookclub1-signup today if you haven’t already. Democratizing Deliberation: A Political Theory Anthology presents cutting-edge political theory on deliberative democracy. Edited by DerekRead… Read more »

Oakland City Council Votes for Open Data Policy

On Monday April 30, 2012, Oakland City Council reviewed an open data policy initiative put forth by city councilmember of the 4th District and Oakland native, Libby Schaff. The open data policy agenda report composed by policy analyst Bruce Stoffmacher, proposes to make raw data sets accessible to the public on a new city dataRead… Read more »

One Important Policy Missing in Open Data

Open data is a huge step towards open government, but it isn’t so easy. There are problems with the decision making process in what becomes public information. John Wonderlich, Policy Director for the Sunlight Foundation spoke with Chris Dorobek of the DorobekINSIDER about the missing link in the open data decision making process. Decisions aboutRead… Read more »

America’s coolest mayor: John Fretterman is redefining public service motivation IMH!

I watched this amazing video by director Morgan Spurlock (you know the “Supersize Me” guy) on Hulu.com yesterday and was really inspired: Morgan followed John Fretterman, mayor of zip code 15104, Braddock, PA, for a day and showed the daily efforts to revive a town: Mr. Fretterman, a graduate from Harvard’s Kennedy School MPP programRead… Read more »