eParty One of the better discussions I had at Etech was with Mark Pincus on his idea for an eParty. An eParty would be a lobbying organization funded by a constituency of civic participants who leverage an emergent democracy system to deliberate and choose issues to support and advance. What appeals to me about this idea:
- Its interests will emerge -- a potential governance mechanism that is truely emergent
- Its driven by easy group forming -- fills a gap in today's politics of infuence to advance otherwise unfundable or short-term issues.
- The process is the platform -- which fosters substantive debate, civic participation and social capital
The blogosphere has proven effective in influencing the mass media which in turn influences decision makers. It also encourages direct appeal for email write-in campaigns. But to truely have an impact on existing political institutions it must represent itself as a constituency and engage in institutional pluralism -- through lobbying on behalf of its constituents.
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