Local Democracy Notepad

Michelle is pointing to the Tufts University ‘Digital Democracy’ course wiki.

On the plus side, as Michelle says, it’s a move that should be welcomed, and it’d be interesting to see how other Universities will approach such an open handed approach with their education programmes.

BUT, looking at that syllabus, it’s rather depressing the way that it reflects a good deal of the discussion around social media and democracy outside of the halls of academe. It mixes the laudable reflections on the disruptive potential of the technology in enabling pro-democracy movements within repressive societies with a series of rather abstract questions combining social theory with the observations of digital evangelists about how the growing influence of digital natives will change things.

But here it is again: The questions of representative democracy, how it will be effected by these disruptive changes – and the things that everybody needs to know (how does technology prove to be an asset to groups that hope to increase their social capital) seem to be absent.

This seems to be the ugly duckling at almost every party. I suspect that – if I were to look hard enough – I’d find a reference to this stuff somewhere.

But it’s lack of prominence here strikes me as somewhat lazy. A preference for abstraction.

Good job there’s a ‘Political Theory 2.0′ session in the offing at Barcamp tomorrow, eh?

(Hat tip: Demsoc)

If ever there is an organisation that is perceived to have lost touch with almost all of it’s stakeholders (apart from the management consultants who decided how central government should assess their performance), it’s the Arts Council of England. Here, Ivan Pope outlines what they should be doing to re-connect.

That post includes a spot of profanity – but not too much. I’m only pointing to this in lieu of a post that I’ve been meaning to write about non-elected organisations have a good deal less legitimacy than elected ones, yet we demand more transparency and accountability from people who have been voted for.

I’d argue that this is the wrong way around. That the Arts Council can behave the way it has in recent years would suggest that I’m in a minority on this one….

Subjecting politicians to excessive regulation discourages interactivity.

My friend Will has e-mailed this from the Washington Post to me – It may cheer Steph up a little to know that he’s not fighting a purely British problem….

“Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.

What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking.”

Update: Steph’s results are up!

Involve are doing a seminar on Direct Democracy tomorrow (early) evening. Details are here.

Here are two entirely neutral views on Direct Democracy:

“A direct democracy is where great thinkers are made to drink hemlock at the whim of the masses.”

That was my friend, Matt that said that.

Or…

“A direct democracy is worse that a fascist dictatorship: At least with the Nazis, you knew who was in charge.”

Bill Thompson said that, but sadly not anywhere that I can link to at the moment.

Peter Mandelson: Probably not as keen on encouraging his political grassroots to interact as he could be?

There’s a terrific post here, authored by Dave Briggs – brimming with positivity and enthusiasm as ever. It’s a really good round up, and a good introduction to what is possible for users that already have their heads in the right place.

I’d add a number of observations to it that I hope make sense.

Firstly, I’ve not found a good briefing anywhere that makes the basic moral case for interactivity – particularly aimed at local politicians and officers. This is really what we’re talking about here when we strip out the actual applications. Something that mirrors the biblical Parable of the Talents.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Eleanor Rigby statue in Liverpool

Councils are burying more lonely people.

(Via Ingrid)

Niccolò Machiavelli - a bit sceptical about all of this 'candour' business

Shorter version: If you’re a politician, it may be a good idea to get into blogging. But do it under a pen-name! It’s safer that way, and it will make you better at your job.

This is an old-ish question nowadays. And as the big question around social media at the moment is ‘should everyone Twitter‘, I think it may be a good time to revisit the question of blogging – now that the one-note evangelism for the medium has died down.

I’m not convinced that most politicians should set up an official blog of their own, or formally blog in their own name. Annoyingly, this is not a common view. Daniel Hannan, a UK Conservative Party MEP says it’s a good idea.

The inestimable Shane McCracken of Gallomanor also thinks they should – indeed, he goes further and asks if leaders should blog (three different times – here, here and here).

Though my own conclusions are slightly different, I’ve been helping a few councillors to have a crack at it recently, and I suspect that a few of them will emerge from it very well.

Former Lewisham Councillor, Andrew Brown picked up (a while ago now) on a Centre for Policy Studies paper on how the internet is changing politics, and how it skews some biases that may already be there in terms of activism and influence. Read the rest of this entry »

Elected mayors. They’re a controversial topic in local government, with many councils and councillors staunchly opposed to them. Until recently, the creation of an elected mayor needed a public referendum – most of which have been lost following opposition by councillors. Now, a simple council decree can introduce one, but if councillors are opposed, that’s not likely to happen.

What’s the next step? Probably, imposition of elected mayors by Whitehall, ignoring councils’ shrieks of displeasure. This might take place under the current Labour government or – more likely – under a new Conservative one.

David Cameron, following Michael Heseltine, has already said that he would favour elected mayors in England’s forty largest cities. This might mean the forty largest urban authorities, which would suggest mayors in every authority larger than Solihull. More radically, it might mean the forty largest identifiable cities, lumping together some authorities in former metropolitan counties. If that is the case, then every authority larger than York (150,000 or so) might find itself in line. Read the rest of this entry »

Neighbourhoods blogger, Kevin Harris has just introduced me to Hugh of Harringay Online. The most superficially interesting thing about his site is the spelling of Harringay. The actual local authority area is Haringey, and within the area – for reasons that are lost in the mists of time – is a differently named neighbourhood within the borough.

“…launched in July 2007 as the Harringay Community Website for the residents of Harringay – that’s Harringay neighbourhood, NOT Haringey borough.”

That’s the throat-clearing conversation that Hugh has to have at the start of every introduction to his project.

But the really intersting thing is the site itself. It’s a great site. It promotes exactly the kind of eavesdroppable conversational local forum that can be such a fantastic resource to local councillors – as long as they don’t get too involved in it themselves. One that doesn’t just privilege shouty interest groups, but that instead fosters a valuable content-rich bubble of local conversation.

It’s a classic example of how local democracy can be promoted most effectively if local politicians and officers aren’t the prime movers.

Update: It looks like Will Perrin is reading from the same page.

Update 2: The LGEO Research site has an interview with Hugh here.

It’s Friday. Time for a bit of a laugh.

This ‘Yes Minister’ clip provides a rough outline:

And on the wider perception of councillors, here’s Vic & Bob’s take:

Joking aside, if there is one thing that desperately needs rebranding, it’s the very idea of the Local Councillor.