Sidewalks for Democracy Online

Steven Clift
11:41 PM | bio | Comments: 4

Government websites don't have sidewalks, newspaper racks, public hearing rooms, hallways or grand assemblies. There are no public forums or meeting places in the heart of representative democracy online. The question that this essay will ask and answer is not what can we do to redesign democracy for the Internet Age, but, rather, why have we decided to delete democracy from the most visited interface citizens have with "their" government? And what are we going to do about it? After almost two decades of "e-democracy," we seem content with simply accelerating online what's already wrong with politics. We raise money... continued...

Topics: Government & Politics, Participation
Tagged: civic engagement, democracy, government

Finding Local Community Online

Steven Clift
1:35 PM | bio | Comments: 2

I've been thinking a lot about just how "local" most people want to be online. The greatest myth about the Internet is that people only want to go to world online. That they only care about creating social networks with friends or people like themselves with similar interests from thousands of miles away. It is as if the cross-dressing organic gardener from Sweden connecting with those like themselves on the other side of the world (someone I met once who shared his tipping point experience with the power of the Internet) has more virtue than enabling a plant swap online... continued...

Topics: Best Practices, Government & Politics, Participation, Philosophy, Technology
Tagged: community, e-democracy, front porch forum, local, minneapolis

How Would You Engage People in Public Policy?

Steven Clift
9:26 AM | bio | Comments: 1

The one million figure is my number, but seriously, the UK government wants advice on how to engage lots of people online. Engage is the key word, the British Prime Minister already receives e-petitions online (nothing like that with the White House, Congress, or even one U.S. governor despite our constitutional right to petition) which is more about political expression than engagement. From the UK-based OpenDemocracy site you can learn about UK government's "desire to hold a national debate on a British Statement of Values as part of the Governance of Britain Green Paper." You can read a summary of... continued...

Topics: Best Practices, Government & Politics, Participation, Technology
Tagged: citizen media, e-democracy, public policy, UK government

Is Citizen Media Skipping Small Town America?

Steven Clift
2:12 PM | bio | Comments: 1

I am on a hunt. While the new EveryBlock.com site uses maps to display aggregated content for three major cities and Outside.in gets local with select geotagging blogs in a number of high population areas, I am looking for tools that display organic "user-generated" content via maps that get out of urban areas and into small town America. As part of E-Democracy.Org's Rural Voices project in Minnesota we seek to discover bloggers, social networking groups, wikis, online community forums, etc. from rural/Greater Minnesota. This map of 200 blogs aggregated by MNSpeak, shows just three outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area.... continued...

Topics: Audio/Visual, Best Practices, Government & Politics, Participation, Technology
Tagged: citizen media, everyblock, maps, rural, rural voices

How Far Should Transparency Go?

Steven Clift
5:46 PM | bio | Comments: 7

Government Technology reported on public employee protests to seeing their names and salaries online via a database on the Sacramento Bee. What about public employee salaries - should all be publicly posted online? Should only management level and above be listed specifically with others displaying the salary range per pay scales for various classifications? I have a hard time imagining a democracy where any and all legally public government information is not on the Internet for all to see in a decade or so. This means the ethics filings of public officials will be liberated from the dusty paper files... continued...

Topics: Government & Politics, Legal Issues, Technology
Tagged: government, public employees, sacramento bee, salaries, transparency

Crashing the E-Politics and E-Democracy Gates

Steven Clift
1:14 PM | bio | Comments: 1

My focus tends to be the "citizen" in citizen media. Over the last few years I've increasing found myself at conferences like Public Media and the Online News Association. I always feel a bit out of place, because despite the adoption of online interactivity in online news and media, I am still pretty much viewed as a "consumer." Someone to be captured and delivered to advertisers or to become a donor to public broadcasting. Interactivity is often viewed in the context of news be it reacting with reader comments or creating "news." True conversation, the heart of being a citizen... continued...

Topics: Government & Politics, Participation
Tagged: citizen media, democracy, e-democracy, government, politics

Public Notices 4.0: Time to Upgrade Public Meetings

Steven Clift
2:56 PM | bio | Comments: 1

Over the years my work has brought me to Rome a few times. The Roman Forum as well as the Athenian Agora have always intrigued me as a model for envisioning online public spaces. Surrounding a public space you have major public and religious institutions, a commercial market in one corner, a place for public speeches, and in Roman Forums the "Albus" or a white notice board with public announcements written in black. Today we often experience institutions (online and off) without a town square or commons in the center, which I try to counter with Issues Forums. However, today... continued...

Topics: Government & Politics, Participation
Tagged: democracy, government, participation, public information

National Night On(line)!

Steven Clift
4:19 PM | bio | Comments: 0

The other night it was -10F with a windchill of -40F here in Minneapolis. When things get that cold, we Minnesotans start thinking about ways to get warm. I think this is why we have a reputation for public innovation, we have a lot of indoor time to think up schemes when the rest of the country is out on their deck enjoying a beer. So I started thinking about ways to better connect with my neighbors despite the cold. I am a huge fan of National Night Out when neighbors around the U.S. put up road blocks and hold... continued...

Topics: Government & Politics, Participation, Technology
Tagged: community, national night out, neighborhood, social networking

Questioning Candidates on Government Openness and Transparency - Pick your Top 5

Steven Clift
12:49 PM | bio | Comments: 0

While the mainstream media community raises awareness about open government each year during Sunshine Week, we need to push local up strategies that promote greater government transparency online so local citizen media has access to the raw "info" materials we need to improve democracy. We need to take a lesson from OMBWatch's Open Government online survey and ask questions of state and local candidate. Here is the survey introduction from OMBWatch: Open Government: What We Need to Know We deserve a more open and honest government. Elections are the time when politicians pay the most attention to people and issues,... continued...

Topics: Government & Politics, Legal Issues, Participation
Tagged: candidates, dissemination, politics, transparency

Online Voter Guides and Election Coverage Down the Ballot?

Steven Clift
3:59 PM | bio | Comments: 1

I was pretty amazed last night with the multiple live feeds CNN.com provided to the different Iowa Caucus candidate parties. Each Presidential election, the major media sites and a gazillion .com ventures ratchet up their online coverage of this signature race. My question to blog readers - is there any sign that this creativity has any momentum down the ballot? Please share any links in your comments. In 2006, I was the host of a unique asynchronous two week online candidate debate among all the candidates on the ballot for Minnesota Governor. Beyond basic online voter guides and article packages,... continued...

Topics: Government & Politics
Tagged: CNN, Iowa caucuses, online debates, voter guides

The Media's Opportunity to Promote Democracy Online - Get Government to Do It

Steven Clift
8:01 AM | bio | Comments: 2

As I noted in my IdeaLab introduction, my background is in online citizen engagement. Specifically, I run a non-profit, E-Democracy.Org, that promotes both government and media accountability at the local level through online town halls we call Issues Forums. (Note our Minneapolis discussion of changes at the StarTribune here and here.) In the mid-90's I managed the main website for the State of Minnesota and staffed the Minnesota Government Information Access Council. I am passionate about government's responsibility to play a lead role as the supplier of information "raw materials" for democracy. The media can and should do a much... continued...

Topics: Government & Politics, Participation
Tagged: democracy, elections, government, politics

Reader Comments: Send Me Your Success Stories

Steven Clift
5:50 AM | bio | Comments: 3

I am working up a post on reader comments to news stories on media sites, comments on media-hosted blogs, or media hosted online forums. At the recent Online News Association conference there was definitely a sense of turmoil surrounding reader comments online. I'd hate to see interactivity switched off due to the lack of "here is how we make it work" knowledge sharing. Those in local media are in particular asked to send in some success stories. Please comment here or privately to me - clift@publicus.net - about your success stories. Add links to examples when possible. Some questions to... continued...

Topics: Best Practices, Legal Issues, Participation, Technology
Tagged: best practices, blogs, comments, forums

10Questions Offers a 'Netroots' Presidential Debate

Steven Clift
12:47 PM | bio | Comments: 0

On my Democracies Online blog I shared my dismay about the so-called online candidate debates thus far this election cycle. With E-Democracy.Org we hosted the first online candidate debate back in 1994, so I am looking for innovations that involve the public in determining the questions and would be satisfied without real candidate rebuttals online. E-Debates have a long way to go, but 10Questions.com is a huge step in the right direction. 10Questions, with scores of netroots and some media sponsors as led by TechPresident, allows you to upload you video question to various video services. You simply tag your... continued...

Topics: Audio/Visual, Best Practices, Government & Politics, Participation
Tagged: 10questions, debates, election, politics, video, voting

To What End? Introducing Democracy Online

Steven Clift
12:50 AM | bio | Comments: 0

Over the next year as a Knight News Challenge "ideas blogger," I'll be blogging a bridge between my world of online citizen engagement and the world of online news/citizen media. As far as I can tell, both areas overlap as hosts of extensive expression. The end goals differ with media folks looking at news generation as the primary objective and online citizen engagement focused on participation and public problem-solving. I look forward to poking and prodding the online news world to exercise their power to move people and ideas online. As the number one destination websites in local communities, media... continued...

Topics: Best Practices, Government & Politics, Participation
Tagged: democracy politics e-democracy blogging