[Campaignforrealdemocracy] direct democracy through the back door

Wed Apr 28 12:41:44 UTC 2010

Hi all,

Agree with James that the technology only supports a community, its the
human network side of things that makes it work or not.
Thanks for the link to the metagovernment wiki, had not come across that
before, looks really interesting.

For examples already existing in the uk, there's a candidate in Hackney,
Denny de la Haye (@getavote)
(http://getavote.org<http://getavote.org/pages/main/home>) who
is standing on a mandate to vote precisely however constituents instruct
him. He is using the online site  www.virtualparliament.org which is trying
to be a forum for ideas and discussion.

Tamsin Osmond's campaign (www.tothecommons.com), is based around these ideas
also, and is on the look out for a similar kind of more localised platform.

Interestingly, Ann Widdecombe tried out some of these ideas for the bbc
programme the people's politician.  She had a website with polls on etc, and
participation was exceedingly low, partly at least because she herself
admitted she wouldn't let them influence what she voted on!

So you need both the network and real buy-in from the
politician/decision-makers concerned.

The other way to go about it is to create such a site that community groups
can use to hold their own discussions, get others in the community on board,
vote on ideas etc and then use them to demonstrate support/put pressure on
decision-makers.

The organisation I work for, and luckily for me is aligned to my interests
and those of this group, is still developing and refining a different take
on an online platform for ideas and discussion.  It is built using symphony
(php based), and anyone will be able to set up groups on the site, hold
discussion and get community  ideas, ask questions and quick polls to the
whole of the rest of the community.   We also work with councils and local
government, (and could do with politicians and others) to help them start to
use it, run initial 'conversations' and build that community, allowing them
to involve residents.

There are obviously a lot of challenges to be addressed, and we are looking
at various ways to make sure that  we don't exclude non-internet users, for
instance linking it with offline events

As I say, current plans are that groups will be able to set up for free
(from around June).  Users can sign up now (www.izwe.com.  friend me - my
user name is mark) but there is a lot of work to be done so please be
patient with it!  And submit any ideas and thoughts using the feedback tab.

In the future we are looking at taking advantage of all sorts of innovative
web functionality such as generating community maps, document reviewing,
improving information-gathering and surveying functionality.  Similarly, if
there ideas you have for such a platform, please send them over, talk about
them here and I will pass them on, or give me a ring on 0207 608 0815.

sorry for the length...

Mark

contact me via:
email, obviously
http://www.izwe.com/user-profile/669/infos
twitter:  @marktcorbin
mob:  07920092515

On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 12:15 PM, James Sadri <jamessadri at googlemail.com>wrote:

> metagovernment do lots of cool stuff
> http://www.metagovernment.org/wiki/Main_Page
>
> my questions would be less about technology but about relevance to the
> community. you need to get a certain amount of critical mass engaged before
> it makes sense for everyone to put in so much effort to collaborate. so the
> human network side of things. how may ppl do you need, can you get them. the
> tech is the easy bit.
>
> there's good direct democracy party in denmark that uses the internet a
> whole load, but i think our main hurdle at the moment is the lack of PR. the
> critical mass you need to get this idea up and viable are probably spread
> across consitutencies - mayb enot though
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 12:02 PM, Mark Barrett <
> marknbarrett at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>> HI Everyone
>>
>> Here's an idea just sent me from Nigel Ware. Assuming we could identify a
>> suitable constituency does anyone know anyone who could help set this up ?
>> James ?
>>
>> Mark
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: nigel ware <nigelrware at me.com>
>> Date: 27 April 2010 17:52
>> Subject: Re: direct democracy through the back door
>> To: Mark Barrett <marknbarrett at googlemail.com>
>>
>>
>> Basically I have an idea, which might already exist some where? To find
>> some php script writers who can create a political forum website that we can
>> offer the use of to local MPs.
>>
>> The site would work as a forum and could be used for a local MP to gauge
>> public support or to gauge their constituents gripes etc. Polls could also
>> be run on the site, polls could be created by any user of the site. The site
>> could run both locally and nationally for national debates on laws etc.
>>
>> To make this site really work and become a powerful tool for direct
>> democracy it needs to work best at the local level and would need to be
>> advertised locally and obviously in time nationally. The main reason to get
>> a local MP on board and enthusiastic is that they can get the money that
>> would be needed to create and run and advertise it. I think that the term
>> "direct democracy" may need to be avoided at first due to most if not all
>> MPs as far as I know, being against direct democracy, so this site would
>> have to be sold as a major tool for local MPs.
>>
>> As the site becomes established and popular and for example in my
>> constituency with the MP having a 10,000 majority at the last election, gets
>> the numbers of users for my constituency up to 5,000 or so, then how could
>> my MP ignore the popular demands made on the site.
>>
>> I am sure it would not take long before various threads locally and
>> nationally along with the polls on the site would start to demand voting on
>> national budgets, going to war, and further down the line law. I think the
>> polls on the site would be most popular, as the governments petition site is
>> a bit of a joke with its 12 month maximum duration time limit.
>>
>> As I said this is all just an idea buzzing around my head so feel free to
>> shoot it down in flames or play with it as you see fit.
>>
>> On 25 Apr 2010, at 15:38, Mark Barrett wrote:
>>
>> > Hi Nigel. Thanks for your message which was forwarded to me. Please
>> > send info and I will link you in to lots of others who might be able
>> > to help. Cheers, Mark
>> >
>> > On 25/04/2010, nigel ware <nigelrware at me.com> wrote:
>> >> Hi,
>> >>
>> >> Can you tell me who I can contact with some ideas I have for
>> introducing
>> >> direct democracy to our awful political system we have at the moment?
>> Please
>> >> send me email addresses as I want to run some ideas about and see if
>> they
>> >> can be finely homed by more clever doods than myself.
>>
>>
>
>
>
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>
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