Democracy is fair play. Perhaps a lesson that Congress should be learning right now? It is afterall about compromise, give and take…fair play. I was checking out Kerry Ann OConnor’s posting “I Got Furlough Fever and the only Prescription Is” where I stumbled across this video by Yared Shumete of Ethiopia. This video was theRead… Read more »
I was thinking about the remarkable power of citizens and their determination to peacefully overthrow the governments in Egypt and Tunisia. Their hope now is to replace decades old regimes with a democratic form of government whose leaders are selected and elected by the people. The model nation they are using? The United States ofRead… Read more »
In a recent discussion about civics and civil society, one of my colleagues referenced a line by Rap artist, Nasir Jones, a/k/a Nas from his song, “Hate Me Now” that states: People “fear what they don’t understand, hate what they can’t conquer.” On this day of national recognition for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., hisRead… Read more »
There is a lot of emotion around the entire Wikileaks issue at the moment. So before continuing I want to make it clear that none of what I have written here is a swipe at our American colleagues. Rather, my view is that all of us – public servants and citizens need to face upRead… Read more »
The Web has transformed and continues to transform how government serves and relates to its citizenry. With the spread of broadband internet access now in 66% of American homes according to the Pew Research Center, some futurists have predicted that without access to the web, citizens may eventually lose touch entirely with the ability toRead… Read more »
OK. So the election over. Here we are with an emergent Gov 2.0 and Public Service 2.0. Time to revisit Politics 2.0. Given the nature of this post I want to be up front about my own political views. On social policy I sit somewhat ‘left of centre’. On the economic side of the equationRead… Read more »
I’ve cleared the decks this week. Today, I am digging deep into the draft Sunshine 2.0 guide for the national League of Women Voters. I’ve been drawing on my early e-government days in Minnesota state government and my many speaking trips where I’ve collected some of the best examples of democracy online supported by governmentRead… Read more »
Australia’s Gov 2.0 Report, our public sector reform report and the innovation report all emphasise the need for change in the organisational culture of public sector agencies. This, public sector culture, has been a professional concern of mine for most of my 30 + years of working in the public sector. I finally got theRead… Read more »
“The time has come for new thinking and aggressive action to ensure the information opportunities of America’s people, the information health of its communities, and the information vitality of our democracy. Information technology is changing our lives in ways that we cannot easily foresee.” That’s a quote from Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the DigitalRead… Read more »
I watched the People’s Politician over the weekend via the BBC iPlayer and started to think about whether “Voting” was a real measure of success of whether people feel engaged or not? In the episode we saw Ann Widdecombe Conservative MP for Maidstone get given a camera to do her first podcast and the questionRead… Read more »