Or is that what political parties are meant to be about? On 2/27/09, Simon Bohlin <[email protected]> wrote: > The question might be whose interest it is to get such forums and > discussions started. > For the career politician, following top down orders is surely easier than > engaging the public and putting prestige into it. And constituents might get > suspicious that it's prestige first, sincerity second. I've learnt how > e-democracy.org does create local forums (they've got videos!) and that > seems a sustainable way to go about getting started. Long term issues are > about funding to keep seeding discussions and gardening the forums. > > Local councils *ought* to create funding programs for this kind of > activities, and it'd get a good chance of solving itself by local inspired > entrepreneur-like people without coming through as a top-down tool. Which > reminds me, maybe such programs exist? Where would you go about finding out > about that? > > Thanks for reading > /Simon Bohlin > > > On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 11:43 AM, Chris Dymond < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> > I do wonder how you would construct a national network of local >> constituency exchanges on national issues. >> >> What if local councils fulfilled this role? - they should be creating >> localised engagement spaces anyway and MPs could simply participate in >> these >> spaces, as they would be far better at aggregating community discussion >> anyway, rather than creating separate ones to deal with 'national issues'. >> >> Furthermore, I think councils should be facilitating and aggregating these >> spaces rather than just hosting them, i.e. connecting all the local >> community spaces together, whether they are being hosted on global systems >> like Facebook, or consist of comments on an article in a local paper, etc. >> >> Am I way off-beam with thinking this is a role for local councils? >> >> -- >> Chris Dymond >> Business Innovation Director >> >> TechnoPhobia Limited >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Steven Clift [mailto:[email protected]] >> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 8:39 PM >> To: mySociety public, general purpose discussion list >> Subject: Re: [mySociety:public] MPs 'talking, not hearing online' >> >> Sorting through the "private" inbox aside ... >> >> Elected officials tend to listen when they know it is their >> constituents/voters talking about them in a public way (or about issues >> that >> might influence how they vote). >> >> They tend to give far more credibility to people who use their real names >> and when the exchange is more civil or at least not a place where they >> have >> to defend themselves against personalized attacks. >> >> Just as E-Democracy.Org has found that neighbourhood forums engender >> specific local councillor interest more than council-wide spaces, I do >> wonder how you would construct a national network of local constituency >> exchanges on national issues. >> >> Ultimately, MPs will "listen" to citizens if they see citizens themselves >> listening to each other and engaging one another on the items in front of >> the MP at that time. They may not respond publicly, but you better believe >> they will monitor what is being said (particularly when you give them >> personalised notification tools). >> >> I doubt it would work without: >> >> A. Critical mass recruiting - at least 200 people in a constituency - >> people >> limited to only their constituency >> B. Real names policy >> C. Use an open source tool like GroupServer.Org that allows e-mail >> publishing/reply options >> D. Rules enforcement - instead of Forum Manager for each space, you'd need >> an online complaint system about jerks - Slashdot style rating might be >> useful, but solo dependence on them is a design for virtual egg throwing >> (very Internet, not very engagement oriented) >> E. Some way for the cream to rise to the top such that the best >> conversations can be viewed national and seeded in to other constituencies >> F. Some sort of discuss and poll option where highlighted monthly topics >> are >> seeded and participants polled to generate some aggregate statistics >> G. 2 million GBP or some very very inspired volunteers and less funding >> for >> coordination >> >> Steven Clift >> E-Democracy.Org >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mailing list [email protected] >> Archive, settings, or unsubscribe: >> https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public >> >
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