[Winona Online Democracy] To further the conversation. I thought I'd pass along another Winona Online Democracy proposal we developed that went unfunded. This one was written back in 2000. I thought it might provide some good discussion since it delves into some of the issues (pro and con) that have been touched on in others' posts and, once again, provides a potential vision for online civic participation in Winona.
-Steve Kranz ----------------- Winona Online Democracy "Expanding Civic Participation and Strengthening Democracy Through Systems of Online Dialogue" Need: Our community and this nation are at a unique moment in history at the convergence of two major trends in civic life. The first is the decades-long decrease in civic engagement at the community level. People are showing a decreased interest in joining clubs and organizations or becoming involved in community activities. This trend has resulted in a decrease in social capital, which in turn has decreased dialogue and understanding among community members. Like many other communities, this decrease in interaction has reduced our community's capacity for problem solving and consensus building. In addition, it results in increased alienation and a greater sense of disconnection to the community by each individual. The second major trend is the increasing use of the Internet as a tool for communication and information dissemination. It has made individual and group communication possible in ways and at capacities that did not exist in the past. The Internet may provide a means to reverse negative trends in community interaction, but use of computer networks for this is only in its infancy and has yet to be fully explored. This technology may enhance or cheapen some of the original intentions of democracy. Winona has a significant, seminal effort underway in "Winona Online Democracy" which has been described as "one of the world's leading online public commons" by Steven Clift, a well-known proponent of e-democracy. But our efforts have also caused us to consider the technology of democracy in the spirit described by David Matthews, president of the Kettering Foundation (one of the premier American organizations promoting deliberative democracy). He cautions at this point in time to realize, "that this wonderful capacity can be used or misused in ways we can not imagine". In reflecting on democracy and what has been experienced to date in Winona Online Democracy, we have begun to consider the broader context of democratic, civic participation in public life whether it be work, civic, or religious in Winona. This reflection has led to a vision of building the community's capacity for deliberative democracy so that all citizens of the 21s century are proactive in dealing with the complex issues that face us in many walks of life. This vision sees inclusive participation across the community. Goals: 1. Increase Winona's capacity for deliberative discussion and consensus building. Increasing our community's capacity for deliberative discussion means that the community has an increasing number of people who are able (and willing) to become involved in discussions that explore issues, help solve problems and increase their personal understanding. These discussions take place in ways that follows a deliberative model of dialogue, knowledge dissemination and consensus building. 2. Develop a framework to make ongoing, community-wide, deliberative discussion and consensus building available to decision-makers. As our community's capacity for deliberative discussion increases, we would like to make sure that this capacity can be easily utilized by those in decision making capacities. Whereas in the past, a local government entity may have to recruit a committee and provide support personnel to meet in person to explore an issue; in the future we would like to see that capacity already in place and accessible to local government entities without the need to develop a new framework each time. 3. Develop an online civic engagement tool. We would like to create an email reader with deliberative discussion and civic engagement capacities. This email reader would provide a structure for "self facilitating discussion", as well as civic tools (such as voting on issues, forwarding discussions to decision makers, and announcing community events). One of its most important aspects would be the ability to provide automatic information management capacities through automatically categorizing and sorting incoming email. 4. Create an online civic engagement model that reaches out and includes all sections of the community including those who do not currently have access to technology. In order to ensure that discussions include all voices in the community, the project will have to provide some means of networking within disenfranchised communities and making internet access, technology and training available. Desired Outcomes: 1. Move beyond the online discussion to foster action through the development of a series of ground breaking Internet tools and linkages. 2. Develop a clear understanding of the civic participation and wired capabilities of Winona citizenry. 3. Increase the inclusiveness of participation (addressing Winona's Digital Divide) 4. Utilize the community's media potential for raising issues of civic participation and highlighting the emerging community capacity. 5. Link with the efforts for participation and democracy across sectors in the community: local government governance and services functioning of schools, and work site involvement. Specific Projected Activities: 1. Develop and pilot deliberative democracy tools (including a civic email reader, email list management tools, web-based activism tools and GIS (geographic information systems) integration) along with the coaching and facilitation of group leaders and members who will ensure use and begin to address issues of going to scale in a community of Winona's size ( .i.e. how the system functions when several thousand vs. two hundred citizens are participating) 2. Begin a survey and interview process to better understand Winona's current status in relation to deliberative democracy across sectors and social/ethnic levels in Winona. 3. Based on a deeper community understanding, begin intentional efforts to increase participation -- recognizing: a) the social capital developed in association membership and b) the growing capacity of technology to support participation. 4. Begin efforts to create awareness of civic participation and local issues utilizing an array of local media: cable access TV ( specific programming and supporting opportunities for group access) , websites, newspapers, etc. 5. Help support specific initiatives in which individual sectors could utilize the principles of deliberative democracy to increase their effectiveness. For example, projects for youth and adult mentors such as "Kids as Agents of Change". _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
