This week we will be talking about various strategies to govern using web-based tools as well as the concept of open government. The themes of government transparency and interactive communication with elected officials will weave themselves through our discussions. For this week's blog I don't have a specific question, instead I would like you to describe what would you like to see in terms of government officials or agencies use of new media in governing or in communication with American citizens. These tools could also come from private or nonprofits (see the sunlight foundation and opensecrets.org for some great examples). In other words, what is on your wish list? Think about what would be most useful or most helpful for us as citizens and feel free to think about this creatively. What could or should happen to maximize the openness and responsiveness of our local, state, or federal government using the internet or web based tools? If you find useful tools or examples please share them. Hopefully together we can come up with some great suggestions and who knows, maybe we will need to start a petition on the We the People site or change.org to see if we can get some support for it.
I think that opensecrets.org is a great place to start in terms of transparency in the political process. Campaign finance is one of the biggest issues to me personally, so a site like this is really invaluable. I’d never before heard of the sunlight foundation, and after poking around their website, it seems like a fantastic idea. They look to be dedicated to more than just following the money in Washington, so they’re definitely a group that’s moving in the right direction in terms of providing more transparency.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my own personal wish list, I am actually kind of stunned by how much information the sunlight foundation makes available, and how much more they seem to want to provide in the near future. I am interested to see what else they will post. Just clicking on the “projects” tab on their website brought me to a plethora of things they’re working on in so many different areas that it makes it difficult for me to identify what else I would want to see be made public. The main thing for me would honestly be to make this information easier to access. I realize that the sunlight foundation and other such websites/organizations have made great strides toward making government more open and transparent, but sometimes it can be confusing to navigate theses sites, especially when you’re not even sure what you’re looking for. So for right now, I would emphasize building on these projects that the sunlight foundation has worked on, and just in general making all of this information a lot easier to interpret and access to people, especially those who may not necessarily be very internet-savvy.
Prior to this blog, I had not heard of either opensecrets.org or the sunlight foundation. I also didn't know that there were any websites that were committed to making the government more transparent and providing average citizens with as much details as possible about how the government works. This is the information that is not given to us through traditional media outlets. Whether it be campaign financing or the role of interest groups and lobbies, these sites are committed to going behind the scenes to provide the facts. Both of these websites are packed with information, but it all depends on how much traffic that the websites get.
ReplyDeleteMuch of what I would include in my wishlist are provided by the websites simply because I didn't know of their existence. The more transparent the government is the more likely people will look to become more involved and active in politics. More importantly, sites like these will either make the American people more satisfied and trustworthy of the government or disatisfied and removed. These sites should promote themselves better so that people know that the information is available to them. One thing that I would like to see more is to focus less on money and financing. Also, I would like to see all government documents available to the public unless deemed to be a threat to national security. This way citizens can make their decisions for themselves rather than being told what to think. It will allow everyone to dissect the information and documents for every detail if they want rather than from a press release that summarizes or highlights what they think are the key points.
I have used OpenSecrets.org "Factsheets" for a lot of research in various classes and it is definitely the best interactive political tool out there. With the click of a couple of buttons, you can find who donates to the campaigns of any member of congress and the President. In addition to their website, OpenSecrets.org has created an App for iPhone users. Making financial transparency easier than ever. There is so much power and usefulness in the idea of the website alone- but the way it is effectively managed is just great.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, OpenSecrets.org may only be as powerful a tool as the amount of people who use it or even know about it. The internet has such a large audience, especially in the United States where around 70 percent of the population has access (as we discussed in class). it is hard for one thing on the internet to gain attention and activity. Especially something requiring thoughtful interaction. This is the downfall- because while OpenSecrets is a gem, it is one rarely viewed. A visit to Alexa (a third party site that produces activity information on any website queried) shows around the world the site sees 55,220 visitors in the three months. Visitors from the United States are a smaller portion, about 14,462. An "audience snapshot" states, "based on internet averages, opensecrets.org is visited more frequently by users who are over 65 years old, have no children and browse this site from school." How can a site so effective, and up to date (an iPhone app!) only be used by retirees with no children to pass the knowledge onto? This is pretty dim. Especially considering a visit to to OpenSecrets.org is probably going to be one of the more productive visits an internet user makes in their day.
The lesson of OpenSecrets.org is despite its ingenious it wont increase visitors or activity because it is political and informational. Yes, it does reveal some juicy financial secrets of public officials but it also takes a certain interaction with the public sphere to care about that information.
If I were to say anything about the useful tools, creation of more, or spreading of their ideas, it would be to spend a little time, energy, and maybe even money to attract visitors and engage the inactive public.
I agree with Tyler completely, though these tools are all highly effective and well respected in the academic community the average American is either unaware of their existence or ambivalent to it. This is more of a problem with the overall state of american political involvement than it is with the transparency that these websites provide. For people to truly appreciate the significance of sites like this it requires an increased level of participation that is simply not present in today's political climate.
DeleteI think change.org and We The People petitions are also ineffective because of the limited scope of people that are either aware of them or care enough to actively participate in them. The best way to get truly democratic internet participation would be through non-partisan and actual serious means. By letting people petition for anything the feasibility of the ideas involved are going to be ridiculous, see the Death Star petition from earlier this year, instead of focusing on actual issues that matter.
I would like to see politicians engaging more with the people in terms of webcasts and meetings. I noticed that when politicians want to get elected, they engage with the public in so many ways. When politicians are running for office, they shake your hand before you board trains, they ring your doorbell and tell you what they are all about, they mail flyers, they call you and tell you their stance on certain issues, etc. Politicians are in constant contact with the people when they want to get elected; however, once they are in office, I feel like that changes. I would like to see these elected governmental officials use new media in governing and in communication with their constituents. I do not want their engagement to disappear once they are elected. I wish they would mail flyers and/or postcards with their contact information including their phone number, address, email address, website, Twitter account, and Facebook in order to keep in touch with the people that elected them. This would be useful for citizens because they would know exactly who their representative is and how they can contact that person.
ReplyDeleteTo maximize the openness and responsiveness of our local government, politicians should use the internet to attract the public to follow their policy decisions. Government officials should seek out their constituents and invite them to town hall meetings and special events because it is their duty to represent the people. If an individual refuses the invitation, then the government official should stop sending these invites because every citizen has the right not to be engaged.
The Sunlight Foundation and OpenSecrets.org are excellent resources to maximize openness on the state and federal government; however, we lack the appropriate web based tools to maximize the openness of our local government. We need a site where you can type in your zip code and all the information will appear, such as the names of your alderman, mayor, member of Congress, and Senators. On this site, each official should have their own profile, which would include donations, campaigns, fundraising, events, meetings, policies, news articles, etc. This would be a useful tool for citizens because most of them barely know their state representative let alone their local government officials. This site would provide easy access to all the information constituents need to know; therefore, they would feel empowered to act and participate in the policy process.
OpenSecrets is a very good tool. It provides a lot of information about politicians and their finances. If I had a wish list I would want to see sites that would give more detailed information about pork spending from websites. I see some of that on the Sunlight Foundation website, but I would like to see a site that goes into much detail about this. Maybe something like a map view showing where people are getting their finances from and where they are trying to get things done. Possibly an interactive map. I am not entirely sure what it would look like. I agree that there should be some way to track these things at the local level as well. Since most of what effects someone on a daily basis are local laws. Who are these local lawmakers really working for is the question. It would be nice if there was a way for someone to create a site that would easily explain how a law would affect the people. Most people do not have the time or the understanding to read complex laws, most of which are written by lawyers and even sometimes when the media tries to explain it they do not put it in terms that most people can understand. ObamaCare is a very good example of this the law is extremely complex and most Americans do not even know what it does for them or how it will affect them.
ReplyDeleteI believe the main thing I want to see is more transparency. We're seeing arguably the least transparent president in the history of our country. He has put more people in prison for whistle-blowing, than anyone in the past, and has definitely been the worst in regards to the Freedom of Information Act (handing over documents that rightfully can and should be viewed by the public). Because our politicians choose not to be open about things that we should know, I think the internet needs to be used to create more transparency. opensecrets.org is a great source. I'd like there to be a site, run by an unbiased organization, that basically shows the history of all politicians. History as in: voting records in office, who contributes money to them, who do they associate with, etc. Using Obama as an example, I bet 90% of anyone who voted for Obama actually knew his politics. They took what they saw, a charismatic figure who is good at talking, and ran with it. They didn't bother to see how he voted in his previous positions. They didn't even follow that after they was elected, he kept the SAME team of wall street criminals in his administration as Bush Jr. did. If people had an accurate history of Obama, they could've seen from the start that he has always supported Wall Street, and big banks (the same people he "promised" to save us from).
ReplyDeleteThe internet is meant to be free and open. Regulation always leads to unintended outcomes and consequences. We need to use this ability, while we still can, to put politicians in check and keep them accountable.
I feel like the internet can and should also be used by politicians to communicate with the public. But that only works if they are going to actually represent the people who elected them. I feel like that whole page we looked at in class is something to make people feel like they have a voice. Is Obama really gonna reform marijuana policy? NO. Is Obama really gonna reform marriage policy? NO. Its put there so people can think they are reaching him. At the end of the day, Obama, like most other politicians, are going to make decisions based on who's paying them the most money.
I desire for a non-partisan, user-friendly website where information for all politicians in local, state and federal government in available in various languages. Something similar to GovTrack.us but simpler so regular Americans can go in and find previous and current bills, voting records, and fulfilled and unfulfilled campaign promises. The only reason why an average person know the same of their politician is due to a scandal that is associated with them.
ReplyDeleteAverage Americans want everything to be simple, easy, fast and free so having an app that has all the information I previously mentioned will definitely be helpful to citizens. It should also include a section where you type in your zip code and it list all the contact information for your legislators, mayor, governor and president. Therefor, you can easily make call, tweet or email them about policy issue, question or comment.
I believe local and state government is as important as federal government, yet politicians in that government are the least transparent. They also need to be held accountable but in order for that to happen citizens have to be inform.
I love using GovTrack.us and Project Vote Smart. They are filled with organized information that makes it easy to learn new things and find out information. I've used OpenSecrets before. It also holds a wealth of useful information. Even though many citizens probably need to use website like this to fact check or backup their various assumptions or beliefs, it's not a site average Americans will you use.
I believe that the tools mentioned in the blog statement are great for transparency, and that We the People is a good website for citizens to get onto in order to make a statement that the White House could potentially see. However, I also believe that these tools can be expanded upon. For one, I wish that tools such as opensecrets.org and sunlightfoundation.com were better known to the average citizen. It would be really nice to see more people informed on pressing issues happening in our country, and these tools would make it easier for them to do so as opposed to sifting through several articles in the paper or online. Another part that could play into this is the fact that not everyone has internet access. If more people were able to get out on the web, then I would at least hope that we would have more informed constituents becoming more involved in government affairs, however I can't be sure that more people on the internet would mean that there would be more people looking to inform themselves on current issues.
ReplyDeleteAnother wish that I would have would be for more sites like We the People to localize and act on a smaller spectrum. This would mean creating these petitions online for a local government, allowing them to see the most popular concerns of their constituents, and allowing them to generate a response. Since We the People has proven to be successful on a larger scale I think that a smaller transition would work out for the best as well.
I think the internet will become an even more useful tool allowing citizens to contact and communicate with their politicians in a much easier way. I would like to see these tools used more effectively, and I believe that as the internet generation gets older, communication via internet could become a new standard. I hope to see more people getting in contact with politicians through the web in the near future, as well as a rise in citizen involvement.
I guess the biggest wish on my wish list would be for the people to have some amount of control over the responsiveness of congress. I know that many times, congress will put off voting on a bill that is seen as controversial or that may lose them some popularity (or even their re-election)in the long run. They sometimes put off an unnecessary halt important legislation or kill bills because of their reluctance to anger majorities or even minorities of their constituents.
ReplyDeleteThis being on a purely "wish list" or hypothetical basis, I think that to get the ball rolling with Congress, the people should decide their pay increases based on their ability to pass successful legislation. If the people decide that a congressman has failed to vote on legislation, or the people are just unhappy with the performance of a congressman, the people should be able to deny him or her a pay raise (I know the people could always just not re-elect a congressman but I think that 1. It would send a clear message to politicians and 2. Get more people involved in politics because let's face it, money motivates)If the people are happy with a congressman's performance, the pay raise would be offered to that congressman. I don't really know how this system would work, its logistics, or the details, but its on my wish list!
That being said, the internet would play a big role in this hypothetical situation, as a tool would need to be created for the sole purpose of track the legislation votes and perceived success or failure of a congressman.
There are a great deal of specific things on my "wish list", but I believe they can all be categorized under two much general categories. The first desire of mine would be to make crowd sourcing a fundamental tool for government officials. Crowd sourcing is such a powerful tool, primarily because it gives these officials the opportunity to find out what their citizens desire. By disseminating what the most prominent desire of the people is, government officials will have a greater ability to maintain the happiness of the people while still pursuing their own needs. Government agencies can cater to these prominent issues and create a give-take relationships. These agencies can give concessions to the people on certain issues in order to prevent backlash as a means of appeasement. By doing so, these agencies can push for unfavorable policies with a greater chance of success.
ReplyDeleteThe other desire on my wishlist is the ability to improve communications with the people. Thanks to the internet, individuals can chat with each other via microphone and camera. Although many public officials can already talk to the nation through televised events, utilizing the internet would offer the advantage of concentration. Instead of broadcasting a personal message to the whole nation at an organized event, an official can utilize the internet to create miniature broadcasts whenever he or she chose. Through the internet, public officials can easily make a nearly limitless amount of these videos to give the message that this figure truly cares about every group. This more intimate persona could help under appreciated groups feel more represented, but also allow officials to handle smaller scale issues with ease.
I think that government officials and government agencies should get more involved with Facebook and Twitter. If frequent posts about policy making were put on those websites the public would far more informed. The sunlight foundation and opensecrets.org are both great resources but I had never heard of them before this blog posting. Facebook reaches far more people than any other website and that is the number one tool that government officials and agencies should be utilizing. It would be easy to have users on Facebook to get important updates about political issues the same way they receive updates about their friends on their news feed. Iphone applications that give good non partisan information would also be very useful. I realize that their are already some resources of this type but if a resource that gave citizens as much non partisan information as possible were created and put on Facebook and the Iphone it would make a huge difference in the number of informed people in this country. Also, when congress is considering a bill, the details of such a bill and leading arguments on both sides would be posted. If hundreds of millions of Facebook users were made aware of an argument that is going on in congress, it would put a huge amount of pressure on them to actually take action. As it is, many important pieces of legislation are simply filibustered, I think that making use of Facebook as a political tool would change that. Basically, I think the biggest change that needs to be made is the media platforms that are used in politics because the ones with the greatest reach aren't being used. Also, the information would need to be very condensed, similar to some of the websites we have discussed in class, so that people actually have the time to take a look at all of the important topics. I would make it so that the information would come up on the screen as a condensed summary and allow the user the option to expand it and view the issue in its entirety if they choose.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a politician I’m sure that I would have a love/hate relationship with the internet and the different tools that are used for political purposes. On one hand I would be able to fundraise much easier, get my message out to potential voters quickly, and gain popularity without spending a fortune on traditional print or television ads. On the other hand everything I said would be subject to instant criticism or fact checking, private life decisions would be open to the public, and lies or rumors can easily be spread very quickly. The internet seems to be a double edged sword when it comes to politicians and political information.
ReplyDeletePersonally I tend to see the internet in a positive light when I think about its relation to politics in general. As stated in the prompt, not-for-profits such as opensecrets and Sunlight Foundation increase the accountability and transparency of political campaign financing. This alone is a step in the right direction because campaign finance was often a very secretive practice up until recently. Another very important aspect of the internet as related to politics is the ability to fact check candidates with great efficiency. Before the rise of the internet most candidates knew that their supporters would trust their facts because they were a leader, but now even the most charismatic leader is subject to the vast knowledge of the internet. Internet tools are allowing us to create a political environment that is fair and based on ideas rather than money/lies.
The part of use of internet technology for politics that I have yet to understand is the social media and open petition areas that seem to have blown up recently. I can understand if you are a candidate running for an open position that you would want to get the word out about your ideas on as many sites as possible, but if you are already elected to a position what is the point? Most of the people that look at your social media are already supporters so any ideas that you receive through this medium will be one sided and unhelpful. I see these social media sites and petition sites as nothing more than mob rule when it comes to creating policy. In order to advance the conversation internet participants must be transparent (real name, location, etc.) and the forum needs to be held by a third party rather than a candidate/office branch. As soon as this happens it will be possible to have a genuine conversation about new policy and the changes to existing policy that the public wishes to see.
Before reviewing these sites I was thinking of a wish list. After reviewing these sites I realized like many of my class mates that the key points I was "wishing for" were already at my disposal. Through the sunlight foundation you ca track the progress of bills through legislation which is something I thought should be tracked. I feel as though by holding congress responsible on some sort of time frame and publicizing their progress it would push them to accomplish more. perhaps this would influence them especially closer to campaign season to be more productive.
ReplyDeleteIn addition similar to what a class mate said about openly updating the progress of bills even more specifically than the site does through FB and Twitter would be ideal. The productivity of the government is my biggest concern. I agree with Alyssa in the sense that their work should be the basis of their pay. it is for the rest of America, so why not them?
Websites that are committed to making the government more transparent are powerful tools for any citizens who are interested in knowing exactly what our elected officials are doing. Media outlets give information, but sometimes we need more specifics. Politicians may not be compelled to sometimes share this information (perhaps campaign finances or groups they may work with), but voters need facts. I took a look at opensecrets.org, and I found it to be very interesting. I have always been interested in political campaigns, particularly fundraising and finance. It is a nice feature to look at lobbyists, PACs, and organizations that give out money because that way a voter gets an idea of who is backing any official.
ReplyDeleteI would ultimately like a website that can is user friendly and non partisan, therefore more people can get involved. I like the We The People, the problem is we need to get people interested. Creating an app will get more people involved and allow those always on the hurry to feel able to use the site. Connecting with a politician is also very important, therefore there needs to be a site were constituents can locate their legislator and directly have a chat with them. Perhaps a site that gives a select set of hours for officials to chat with their constituents. This can be another avenue for people to voice their opinions. Creating interest is the key, and making things more accessible for people needs to be implemented more.
In order to open communications in the digital age, politicians should take a cue from celebrities (including President Obama) who have taken advantage of Google's Hangout capability. This would allow people to actually see their representative and pose questions and receive clarifications from their representatives. The current forum of "Twitter Town Halls" is limited at best. There isn't any real way to have a discussion, not to mention I frequently find that people tend to talk at each other instead of with each other while communicating via text on social networks.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to see a national digital ID card. This is definitely a suggestion that seems far afield and has numerous security hurdles that would need to be cleared; however, I believe this to be the way of the future. I believe we are already heading towards a world in which we won't need wallets, cards, cash, or coupons anymore. Some of these items are already on the way out and the Canadian government is already exploring moneyless options for the future. This digitization would streamline traffic stops, DMV, and post office visits. Stores could tap into the system to authenticate IDs and banks could easily transfer funds through Near Field Communications.
Daily interactions with government issued documents is one thing and governance is another. I'd like to see more openness in political campaign contributions. Who is donating money to whom, how much have the donated, and what has their voting records been? It's already possible to see who voted for what; however, I want that process to really be open in a way that shows who voted for what, who lobbied for what, and how much money went from the lobbyists to the Congresspeople who voted either way. Technology can really afford us the opportunity to see the outcomes of government in truly revolutionary ways, hopefully we can seize that opportunity!
I love the concept of the Citizen’s Briefing Book and the We the People website. I feel that both of those concepts give the average citizen the empowerment of being heard. As the “divide” of internet user’s verses non users gets smaller, the security and technology to reach a public official gets tighter. I can not tell you how hard it can be to reach a person on a phone versus a computer especially if you’re trying to complain or get a response. Both the CBB and the We the People website offer a stronger and more efficient way to be heard, and that is by polling. Throughout history polling has been shown to be the most efficient way to determine a lot of political decisions so why not open up everyday situations to the public and let them vote on it. Yes, we can not guarantee that we are going to get a response or are going to be heard but I personally feel more confident in the progression that has been made because I believe it is a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteSomething that was actually just brought to my attention over the weekend in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdbEEwZ1Ogk&playnext=1&list=PL57EB56314B5B9248&feature=results_video was this "behind the scenes" type relationship between recently ousted dictators in the Arab world, such as Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Bashar al Assad of Syria and American PR companies. While it wasn't made clear to the American public that the US government had been funding these regimes for the longevity of their existence, it was in fact true. What was more surprising is that while Obama publicly stated that he stood in solidarity with the people of Egypt and that America could not choose the next leader of Egypt and said that such a decision was in the hands of the Egyptians, the US government was still funding the Mubarak regime.
ReplyDeleteThis type of relationship is something that is rarely exposed in US mainstream news media, but it is something Americans need to know. Not only were these tyrants puppets of the West, but they were also friends with American PR firms. A few big PR firms, essentially sacrificed their ethics for a quick buck, and brokered a deal with tyrants like Gaddafi and Mubarak to in a way humanize them as leaders so that the public would not join the masses of protesters. These PR firms then hired journalists to put these kinds of stories out and in short paint a much softer picture of these despots. Instead of seeing the 'truth' in the news, magazines, overall mainstream media, we saw spreads of these tyrants and their families in publications such as Vogue.
The FARA database actually tracks these stories and these types of relationships, and more or less exposes these authors and PR firms dirty laundry. Like many have said, prior to this blog, I had never heard of the Sunlight Foundation, but I think they are a solid start to creating government transparency. After hitting the 'issues' tab you are taken to a list of issues that Americans are most concerned with in understanding government activity. The 'lobbying' bullet mentions foreign lobbying influence and directs you to the FARA site where you are provided with resources to track relations between these PR firms and tyrants worldwide.
I'm kind of surprised that AIPAC wasn't mentioned under this tab though. The Israel lobby influences US foreign policy tremendously! If you guys take a look at the video I posted, you'll see that Bahrain is rarely mentioned in the media...why? The Obama administration and American news has only focused on the uprisings in Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia. There have been uprisings in Jordan, and Bahrain -two nations with strong ties to the US, but these protesters are silenced. We need to have a better understanding for the US governments stakes in various countries. These relations stemmed from greed need to be exposed. We all need to know where are tax dollars are going!
The idea of government transparency and interactive communication is something that is very appealing to me. I feel that all too often our citizens are unaware of what is actually going on behind government doors, what political leaders are actually advocating for and why. I think that there is a large percentage of people who just “go with the flow” when it comes to politics, believing that they are only one person, they couldn’t possible matter therefore, remain flexible. If there was an increase in government transparency and interactive communication I believe that citizens would feel more at ease about what is going on in their community, state and country.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I was unaware of the Sunlight Foundation and think its tools and opportunities are beyond adequate. Being able to monitor political actions with the help of these tools seems so easy. However, considering it seems easy I believe its existence needs to be pushed more to increase awareness. The Influence Explorer seems especially interesting as it allows you to views the connections being made. Having a mobile app is genius, keeping users up-to-date on the go is just what the audience is looking for. Nonetheless, I believe the only issue with this it its lack of awareness, if people knew tools like this were available I believe hesitation to participate will decrease and governmental comfort and involvement will increase.
I'm torn about open access to all information. I think the government has to keep some secrets to protect people. For example, the government can't tell us when/where strategic missions are taking place because if that information were to get out it could jeopardize people's lives. It may be a false sense of security but I trust the government a little more now that BO is in office. His actions haven't been that of a global cowboy willing to bomb first and ask questions later. Leading in government can be messy, I'm not defending corruption, but there are certain decisions that have to be made quickly and can not be put to popular vote or debated. That's why its so important for everyone to vote. At the end of the day you're voting for someone you trust will make the best decision possible when presented with an issue. I also think that most of the American public isn't really smart enough to make a lot of the high level decisions and that's more of an insult to our education system than the citizenry.
ReplyDeleteThat said I do think organizations like the sunshine foundation and open secrets are great. Its nice to be able to review documents that led to decisions and to be better informed. Its also invaluable in understanding motivations for certain decisions.
As citizens gain more and more access to the internet I think it would be great if each piece of legislation was an open book and was subject to public scrutiny. For example, if the public could essentially have line item veto power over specific sections if enough were opposed to a section maybe there wouldn't be a bridge to nowhere.