Government of the People … For the People
One of the under-appreciated benefits of the Web is how much closer it has brought government to the people — and the people to government.
What I’m talking about is how we have access to an unprecedented amount of resources, tools and information from our respective governments. We even have access to people working in the government. And it’s all from our desktops and mobile devices, making it incredibly convenient and instantaneous.
Consider just two examples I’ve run into this week alone:
- Business.gov has a new Twitter account – Business.gov, the U.S. Federal government’s website link between government and business, is now on Twitter (@BusinessDotGov) as of last Thursday. Even more interesting, they followed me! Five years ago, I couldn’t have imagined THAT happening — them reaching out to me. No way! Yet, they reached out. They’re just getting their feet wet on Twitter and I look forward to their updates. Go ahead, follow them — I’m sure they will appreciate it. By the way, Business.gov is an awesome website — read my review from last year.
- British Prime Minister’s office is on Twitter – @DowningStreet is the Twitter account giving frequent updates from the PM’s office. For instance, 4 hours ago I learned that the Sultan of Brunei had visited 10 Downing Street. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “you could have gotten that information from Reuters — what’s the big deal?” The big deal is that @DowningStreet actually follows and replies to others on Twitter. For example, they recently responded to questions by a James Henley (@jameshenley), who describes himself as a 20-year old youth pastor, and to Nick Booth of the UK (@podnosh). I may not be a citizen of the UK, but considering the close cultural and political ties between our two nations, I am very interested in the British Prime Minister’s policies.
The Web and computer databases also make it possible for governments to intrude into the lives of their citizens. Who among us doesn’t feel unsettled by the thought of Big Brother examining our lives too closely? That’s definitely something all of us need to guard against happening.
But consider the progress we’ve made on the flip side. The Web is bringing us access to the people working in government. It brings us closer to the resources our respective governments offer. And it gives us a voice to communicate easily and quickly with those who are representing us in government.
I think that is admirable progress. What do you think?
June 24th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Very surprising. But I’m not sure how I feel about this. I’m having a mixed reaction but I can’t wait to hear everyone else’s thoughts.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Invasion of privacy is not the fault of the internet; government spying on citizens is as old as government itself.
Government participation in social media is the best opportunity for democracy to fulfill its potential to date. Real time voting on legislation by the people would be the biggest paradigm shift in governing since the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
June 24th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Anita, I’m curious. How do you know that the Business.gov twitterer is anything to do with the government and not just someone who is interested in such things?
June 25th, 2008 at 3:20 am
I agree to gary
June 25th, 2008 at 5:49 am
I have mixed feeling too. Why should the government spend time and money on these kind of things? It is good to see that you could get an inside view of what is going on. But shouldn’t you continue the great tradition of town hall meetings and direct “democracy”? (As a note: I am for a constitutional republic as proposed by the Founding Father. I am opposed to today’s majority rule systems.).
Please read my post, Big Brother Snoop Law in Sweden. Click on my name. Have you heard that Sweden has an “embassy” at Second Life? http://www.thelocal.se/7347/20070518/
June 25th, 2008 at 7:42 am
Put me in the mixed feelings camp as well. If all this leads to more transparency and direct communication between citizens and elected officials, we all gain. If it leads to people on both sides trying to game the system and manipulate conversations, then all of today’s problems and disconnects are going to get worse.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Hi Laura, I agree that we have to watch out for imposters and poseurs. But in this case, based on email correspondence I’ve had from the SBA (which manages Business.gov), I am confident they are for real. I’ve been on their press release email lists for some time.
Hopefully they will start giving government-specific updates soon. Then it will be unmistakable that they are the people behind the Business.gov website.
Anita
June 25th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Hi Martin and Gary, great points about democracy.
But you see, to me, this is democracy in action. 21st Century democracy.
It would be much easier to hide behind a website and never come out and show yourself or hear from people. But on Twitter, the government is actually engaging with us.
I am a huge supporter of democracy but I’m afraid running things through town hall meetings would not be practical. Most of us wouldn’t have time. So even though it sounds on the one hand like a good idea, I’m afraid we’d quickly descend into a small group taking the time to vote anyway — representatives we didn’t even elect.
Anita
June 25th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I can see both the good and bad here with this. I’m impressed that they’re connecting but I guess I’m just a tad old fashioned about technology still. I don’t even have any desire to have a system such as OnStar in place in one of my vehicles. I know the benefits outweigh the negatives there, but it just bothers me that your motions can be tracked. I realize no one would care what I’m doing or where I’m going anyway. . .but there’s just something about that I don’t like. I kinda feel the same about cell phones, too. When they ping, they are reporting the vicinity you’re in. Just doesn’t sit well with me.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Thanks for the interest in Business.gov! We are excited to be on twitter and the site is official government information. http://www.business.gov is the “Official Business Link to the U.S. Government.” The site was created and is maintained by the Business Gateway Initiative, a program managed by the Small Business Administration in partnership with 21 other Federal agencies. The program does a very good job of having authoritative, government information posted to help small business owners meet their regulatory and compliance needs. We know the compliance burden on small business owners is great, and we are trying to aggregate the information for business owners in one place that they can trust.
We are using new technologies such as twitter, blogging, social networks, etc. to get the word out and drive people to use the site to find the authoritative information they need to run their business.
Please provide your comments and suggestions as we greatly value business owner feedback and use it to make updates to the site. http://www.business.gov/contact-us/
June 26th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Tracy, thanks for stopping by and participating in the discussion! Anita
June 28th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Thanks for the mention.
We have grown up to understand government as a process, something that is done to us. In truth good government is a conversation between the governed and the governors. Town meetings are important because thats where people go to vote - but in truth they are more valuable as a way of provoking conversation throughout the town .
Any tool which reminds us of that and encourages those inside government to have conversational relationships with the rest of us is good news. Twitter, used properly, is such a tool.
June 29th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Well, It will be century before we can see this thing happen in France gouv.
Seems you are buiding next online democracy in US
Anita, you are famous now
Best regards from France
Claude