Democracy Pays
- Wednesday, 08 February 2012 19:52
White Paper.
We are delighted to be republishing this blog post found on Democratic Society’s official webpage.
The post features the executive summary of a White Paper, written by Anthony Zacharzewski in association with Public-i Ltd., on how democratic engagement can help local government save money in a time of cuts. (PDF/View on Scribd).
We find it very much in line we what we believe, and we’re here to spread the word. This is Open Gov good practices at its finest.
Stop ACTA - Sign the Petition today!
- Tuesday, 31 January 2012 09:44
United for Change.
A couple of weeks ago, 3 million of us signed a petition urging US Congressmen to reject SOPA on the ground that it choked innovation and our freedom of expression. It worked. But there is an even bigger threat out there, and our global movement for freedom online is perfectly poised to make it disappear, once and for all.
Social Networks support the European Citizen Initiative
- Monday, 30 January 2012 12:35
Facebook, Google, Twitter and other social networking sites will support European citizens’ initiatives that will be launched starting 1 April, corporate representatives said during a conference in Brussels last week.
Stand up for Freedom! #stopSOPA
- Wednesday, 18 January 2012 12:44
The Changing Role of Government
- Thursday, 12 January 2012 11:52
(r)Evolution.
The role of government has evolved over time as citizen needs have changed. In Governing’s November 2011 edition (p 20), there was an article entitled “Full-Service Government Comes to an End,” by Paul W. Taylor. The article focused on the many requests that come through for government employees to resolve. In particular, he noted that in Longmont, CO, “an internal analysis showed that up to 38% of the police departments calls for service did not need a uniformed officer – they needed a neighbor.”
This is only one example, but it raises a large question: Should government become an “information clearinghouse,” helping citizens find and act on information, as well as be a service provider? Should local government become a significant information and services hub, linking citizens to the most appropriate community resources for their needs?
U@MARENOSTRUM – Collaboration on water-management in the Mediterranean
- Friday, 23 December 2011 10:21
Newly Emergent Collaborative Governance Practices.
Online Collaboration is increasingly being used to address complex resource and ecosystem management issues, and for strategic planning and development. In the context of challenges to traditional government practices, we are seeing generation of a variety of new practices that are based on collaboration, deliberation, and dialogue.
In a previous post we discussed Gov2u's citizen collaboration platform for administrating the river-basin system of the Catalan region. ACAPARTICIPACIO is a remarkable initiative which demonstrate how effectively citizens from a region can contribute to policy formulation. U@MARENOSTRUM went a step further: realising that environmental concerns and marine environment know no-borders, the platform gathers people from different regions and countries which are all equally affected by environmental degradation.
Five Challenges Accounting for the Emergence of Collaborative Models
- Friday, 23 December 2011 09:01
Demands for Collaboration.
Yesterday, we offered a contrast between the traditional deliberative and the emerging collaborative models of governance, with 10 ways to effectively move towards more collaboration. Collaboration literally means to co-labor, to work jointly with others. It includes “cooperating with an agency or instrumentality with which one is not immediately connected”. This emerging governance model is increasingly being used to address complex resource and ecosystem management issues, and for strategic planning and development.
