DO-WSIS - New E-mail List on E-democracy and Information Society --------------------------------------------------------------------- An information exchange forum on e-democracy and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
DO-WSIS is hosted by Democracies Online. The Democracies Online Newswire e-mail announcement list reaches over 2500 members from over 75 countries. To subscribe to DO-WSIS: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to DoWire - the Democracies Online Newswire or visit its archives: http://www.e-democracy.org/do In the WSIS documents <http://www.itu.int/wsis/> being drafted by participating governments, the word "democracy" only appears once near the end of the Statement of Principles. Further, the most powerful human right in terms of citizen empowerment in the online world, the right to _associate_ and therefore communicate, is not mentioned (the freedom of expression is powerless without an audience or in this case an "online community" for two-way exchange). Possible topics for exchange on the DO-WSIS include strengthening the information society to promote: 1. Participatory democracy at the local, regional, and national levels of government and in society generally. 2. Online-enhanced participatory international governance processes and institutions that are transparent, accountable, and provide citizens with timely electronic access to legally public information. (The WSIS web video streams set a new high standard for access to other international bodies!) 3. The realization of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In particular, Article 20 on the freedom of assembly and association and article 19 on the right to freedom of opinion and expression as they come to life and raise citizens voices through the online environment. 4. Good governance and greater levels of citizen participation through e-government, media online, and civil society information efforts that deliver on the democratic potential of the new medium. 5. The establishment of WSIS Plans of Action that develop specific goals and initiatives to implement the often cited democratic potential of the information society - this could include specific mention of "E-democracy" ICT applications through civil society and e-government to encourage democratic citizen participation and involvement in official documents. For more on democracy in the information age, see the links from: http://www.publicus.net/articles/edemresources.html Also see the new article by Steven Clift titled, "E-Democracy, E- Governance and Public Net-Work" for a summary overview of projects that make the democratizing and collaborative potential of the new medium a reality: http://www.publicus.net/articles/edempublicnetwork.html Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - M: +1.612.203.5181 Join my Democracies Online Newswire: http://e-democracy.org/do My blogging experiment: http://travelscoops.com ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>