Please stand by --a few days, I think. You want political / governance social innovations ? An interest of mine since the futurists first put the concept on the map waaaay back when. This part of the project... Billy ------------------------------------------------------------------- 10/26/2011 6:38:14 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
Nice. We could use some of that... Political Innovation Is Social Innovation - California Moderate Party _http://camod.org/2011/10/political-innovation-is-social-innovation/_ (http://camod.org/2011/10/political-innovation-is-social-innovation/) ____________________________________ There’s a stigma out there that’s associated with politics. For good reason, too. It was the great Otto von Bismark who once said, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.” Despite the hyperpartisanship of today, the way we resolve (or not) political conflict in a 21st Century United States is relatively civil. No fist fights, no assassinations. But just because we’re civil doesn’t mean we’re capable of solving problems. That’s where social entrepreneurs enter the picture. Political dysfunction has indirectly led to a new emergence of social entrepreneurs who are solving problems in their communities in spite of government’s inability to address them. In his book _The Power of Social Innovation_ (http://powerofsocialinnovation.ash.harvard.edu/) , author and Deputy Mayor of Operations for New York City, Stephen Goldsmith argues: Growing cadres of civic entrepreneurs eager for change bring bold interventions that push the bounds of how to address public problems. They are a savvy, motivated, and results-oriented group of individuals who, through disruptive innovations, create opportunity and hope. Together with a large and growing pool of caring citizens who aspire to help others through service, they prove each day how talent and compassion can change lives and in so doing hold the key to America’s future. Social innovation is a powerful concept. And the hard work of social entrepreneurs is immensely valuable to society. Political leaders from across the ideological spectrum, including Newark Mayor Corey Booker, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and former governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels have injected innovative ideas into governing. But these leaders are the exception rather than the rule. There’s a legitimate role for politics in determining the size and scope of government. However, once that determination has been made, all elected officials should agree that whatever government does should be done as well as possible. The challenge for social innovators is that they don’t have the ability to make laws. That’s why we need political innovators. Yet, neither major party has political innovation on their agenda – of course, true political innovation will require a fusion of liberal and conservative ideas. At the same time, our state and country hasn’t needed innovative solutions to address the challenges we face more than we need them today. Our future will depend on our ability to educate and train workers to compete in a global economy. Even philanthropy has begun to address this problem by offering _grants_ (http://irvine.org/grantmaking/our-programs/californiademocracy) to organizations willing to tackle the tough task of governance reform. Even so, nonprofits are constrained from engaging in political activities. But you can’t take the politics out of politics. If we truly want to see social innovation, we need to support political innovation. That will require setting aside our previous partisan commitments and collaborating to create an economic recovery, improve education, and reduce the size of our debt. More importantly, it will require organizing for a common agenda around smarter government, better outcomes, and faster progress. That’s the California Moderate Party in a nutshell and that’s why we need innovators just like you to join our movement. “Political Innovation Is Social Innovation _http://t.co/O6YssaEY_ (http://t.co/O6YssaEY) #innovation #opengov #gov20 #CAgov #capolitics— _CA_Mod_ (http://twitter.com/#!/CA_Mod) ◢◣ ____________________________________ (via _Instapaper_ (http://www.instapaper.com/) ) Sent from my iPhone -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: _http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism_ (http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism) Radical Centrism website and blog: _http://RadicalCentrism.org_ (http://radicalcentrism.org/) -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
