Just noticed that the White House had uploaded the specifics of the Obama Jobs Plan onto their website. It's a pretty interesting read, and seems to have a lot of great specifics that are normally missing from the public debate.
What I did find more interesting and curious though, is how the internet is shaping our modern governance system. While press releases and fact sheets about proposed laws and policies are now common, slowly, governments are starting to embrace direct input from their people in terms of initiatives and proposed laws.
In the United Kingdom, voters can petition the government online using a system called DirectGov. The United States is going to add something similar called "We The People", which allows people to post petitions, with the most signed petitions floating to the top and getting interest from the White House.
Seems interesting, but is it feasible?
4 comments:
Definitely feasible - it makes civic engagement way easier. The only issue is making sure all people (including those in poverty) have access to the internet.
Aseem, this is so cool, but it definitely raises questions-it's not just poor people who could be excluded, like Nadeem pointed out, but also older generations who are less familiar with the internet. Speaking of age, I have to wonder how they decided on the 13 and up rule for eligibility...
I think the question needs to be asked, not only is it feesible but will it really do anything. The republicans/Eric Cantor (i think it was called youcut or something like that) had something similar about which government program to gut and nothing really came out of it due to the legislative process. I am sceptical that this will be more than a pr stunt type thing which makes people feel involved without anything getting done.
sorry for being so pessimistic.
I see your point Joe, but I have to disagree. While currently such a system might not be valid, especially in terms of what Nadeem and Rita mentioned, it's important to remember that we are in an age of technological transition. The internet is a new factor to governance that our Founders, and subsequent government leaders could not have possibly predicted. It adds a whole new dynamic to the idea of a Republic vs. an actual democracy. Currently our system is one that has the internet, yet governs as if it did not exist. While "We The People" may not be the end result for internet governance, it certainly offers a step in the right direction.
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