e-Democracy - Feel The Force
Here we have yet another example of the UK population exercising their democratic rights on the census return, and officials not really sure what to do with the response.
Jedis reach the stars in UK census. May the fuss be with you [The Register]
I am reminded here of the Council who tried passing the buck on a hard decision between service cuts or increased council tax, to their electorate - because they knew the people would know there really was only one option - raise taxes. Boy did they get a shock.
The impact of all this on e-democracy is obvious, the lack of effective processes in the past was masked by a certain degreee of remoteness between government and the electorate. The new electorate have changed their views, expectations and nature of their democratic engagement. Government have not just to employ technology in support of democracy, but must use it to help first understand the new models of the electorate expectations. Only then will the next generation of democratic engagement be comprehended and enabled. Until then, may the force be with you...
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9:06:04 PM
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