Steven Clift
Tue, 12 Jul 2005 05:25:03 -0700
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Please reply to this very interesting query via the DoWire blog: http://www.dowire.org/notes/index.php?p=21 From: Jim Snider <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [DO-Consult] For a school board member seeking to set up a bulletin board, is phpBB the way to go? Dear Colleague: This spring my 17 year old daughter, Pallas Snider, won an election to be the student member of the Anne Arundel County School Board. She ran on an e-democracy platform and was sworn into office last Wednesday for a one year term. I am posting this message to seek advice on which software e-consultation tool she should use. The population of Anne Arundel County, Maryland is approximately a half million people, and the school system serves approximately 75,000 students and 8,000 employees, about half of whom are teachers. Of the more than 15,000 school districts in the United States, it is the 42nd largest. The student member of the board has full voting rights. No other student member of a school board in the United States has full voting rights, including over personnel matters. Election to the Board is by the countywide student association with approximately 250 members serving 120 schools. It was to those students that my daughter promised e-democracy empowerment. The core audience, therefore, is relatively small, computer literate, and motivated. The key design specifications for the software are that it be free (open source or ad supported) and provide sophisticated bulletin board services. A steering committee from the executive committee of the student body will administer the site. As the student member of the board, my daughter will have a lot of influence over the topics of discussion. But the idea is to use the steering committee to create a checks and balance system so the bulletin board doesnt degenerate into merely a PR vehicle for the student member of the board. On the one hand, my daughter will be constrained by the other students. On the other hand, they will provide her with valuable information and enhance her democratic legitimacy and thus power when there is a mobilized consensus within the student body on an issue. In addition to students, school board members and the local press would be expected to read comments on the bulletin board. The press, in particular, may find the site a valuable news source. The County is covered by three newspapers, including regional sections of the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post. Of course, in an ideal world, my daughter would like to use a full- fledged e-democracy tool with sophisticated polling, e-mail notification, parliamentary procedure, etc. (The student organization's executive board is itself is a full-fledged deliberative body that operates with Roberts Rules of Order.) But it is not clear to us that such an ambition is presently practical. My daughter and I have already done some research. As of July 2005, the five products that seem most practical for our purposes are: phpBB (http://www.phpbb.com/index.php) Yahoo Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/) CivicSpace (http://civicspacelabs.org/home/civicspace) GroupServer (http://www.groupserver.org/; see also http://www.e- democracy.gov.uk/aboutus and http://e-democracy.org/uk/) Delibra (N.A.; developed with an NSF grant at Carnegie-Mellon University) At the moment, we are inclined to go with phpBB because of its strong bulletin board features and demonstrated track record. Yahoo Groups is the easiest to set up and has the most breadth. But, unfortunately, it also has very little depth. Groupservers manual and integration of e-mail with a web interface is quite appealing. But the set up requires more technical expertise than we presently feel comfortable with. Delibra and Civic Space are ambitious and exciting products. But Civic Space is still in beta and Delibra hasnt even shipped (were told it is supposed to ship by the end of the summer). Another alternative is for my daughter to set up a blog (Typepad would be our first choice) but that approach, although the easiest by far to implement, is more top down and thus less deliberative than would be ideal. Taking into consideration the goals and constraints of my daughter's application, your opinions about the relative merits of the products aboveand any other products we have overlookedwould be greatly appreciated. This is a rare and exciting opportunity to integrate e- democracy into the formal machinery of a local legislative body. Wed like to make sure that we have the best possible tool to make this experiment a success. --Jim J.H. Snider, Ph.D. Senior Research Fellow New America Foundation 1630 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202/986-2700 Web: http://www.spectrumpolicy.org/ E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Also see my new book on digital TV policy and politics http://www.spectrumpolicy.net/) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Democracies Online - Consultations - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Posts may only be forwarded with the author's express permission - Participants do not officially represent their organizations To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. 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