Comparing the listserv to a precinct caucus:
Precinct caucuses are touted as a opportunity for citizen
participation/communitarianism and they are terrific as starting points for
civic involvement. But they also come with much paperwork, are infrequent,
and are prone to domination by a precious few who know the ropes. They lead
to the world of partisan volunteerism should one wish to stay involved and
while there is ample opportunity to meet fellow partisans, candidates and
officeholders, watch your wallet because the system is forever starved for
money.
The listserv mpls-issues is intriguing because I have access to the opinions
of many folks who know their way around the partisan world I just described
and may like me have discovered that there's serious mileage available
online that the regular partisan system doesn't carry very well. I have a
live issue - the landlord/tenant negotiations about the master lease for all
Minneapolis highrise public housing on my plate just now. I can organize my
thoughts and make my points in a timely and continuing way without having to
trek around town to beanfeeds, doorknocks, and the like and anybody
interested can tap into the issue discussion. The listserv discussion is
more informal than the working sessions of the draft lease task force I sit
on, but it's also a larger arena than that committee. Reminiscent of the
Greek agora, perhaps. And the publicity any such discussion informs impacts
awareness and process in the real world, not just the limited resolutions
activity generated once every two years in the precinct caucus network.
Of course, listserv discussion is a computer thing and precinct caucuses and
their aftermath are events in the flesh. So there are exclusions involved.
It takes money and training to do the listserv thing and it takes personal
mobility to do the precicnt caucus thing. I have choices about this and I'm
glad that I can do some of both. What I observe after a few weeks on the
listserv is that I have had more contact and more information exchange in
these few weeks than I would normally have in many months of energetic
community involvement. This is good, because I'm getting less mobile and
more opinionated all the time!
Fred Markus, Horn Terrace, Ward 10
_______________________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
