Tim Bonnemann‘s commentary on the January 21, 2010 Federal Computer Week website, titled The Outer Limits to the Crowd’s Wisdom, outlines the limits of “crowdsourcing” techniques in government decision-making and policy creation. Crowdsourcing, which Tim explains as “the concept of applying open-source principles to fields outside software,” is a popular topic in conversations about new public participation requirements in the Open Government Directive. Tim points out that crowdsourcing projects like the online Open Government Dialogue so many NCDDers participated in, which are useful for such ... (continue)

The Path Not Taken (So Far): Civic Engagement for Reform written by Peter Levine, outlines the Obama Administration’s failure–so far–to engage the public in our great national challenges. Peter writes… Candidate Obama argued that positive change comes from organized social movements, not from the government alone. Social movements should be broad-based, not narrow groups of people who all agree with one another. They should promote discussion and collaboration across lines of difference–including ideological difference. As he said in May 2007, “politics” usually means shouting matches on ... (continue)

‘Athens’ on the Net (September 13, 2009), by Anand Giridharadas and published in the New York Times, is an article on the relationship between civic participation, open government and social media. This is a must-read for everyone involved in public dialogue and deliberation. NCDD member Jim Fishkin is quoted several times in the article. Part of the article is below; read the full article at www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/weekinreview/13giridharadas.html?_r=1. (continue)

Open Government Directions is a blog run by NCDD members AmericaSpeaks and Ascentum for those who care about the Open Government Directive and creating a more participatory and collaborative government. (continue)

The purpose of the White House’s Open Government Directive (OGD) is to change the culture of federal agencies so that they are more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. The OpenGov Playbook (at www.opengovplaybook.org) is a place for open government practitioners at the federal, state, and local levels to share questions and effective practices about the Directive. Knowledge about the OGD is spread out across the Web; the primary purpose of this wiki-based site is to serve as a useful directory to those resources. The Playbook also ... (continue)

The eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government (JeDEM) provides researchers and practitioners the opportunity to advance the practice and understanding of eDemocracy, eGovernment, eParticipation. The journal aims to bridge innovative, insightful and stimulating research, testing and findings with practice and the work conducted by governments, NPOs, NGOs and professionals. JeDEM is published by the Centre for E-Government at the Danube University Krems (Austria). (continue)

The following article is one of a series of articles NCDD created in August 2009 in response to the volatile town hall meetings on healthcare held at the time. NCDD members were encouraged to adapt the articles and submit them as op-eds in their local papers. Go to http://ncdd.org/rc/item/3172 to see the other articles and one-page flyer. – Town hall meetings being held on healthcare legislation across the country are exploding with emotion, frustration, and conflict. Citizens are showing up in throngs to speak out ... (continue)

This was the fifth topic focused on by the “Democracy Communications Network,” a 2007-2009 project that encouraged leaders in dialogue and deliberation to periodically write op-eds and blog posts as part of collaborative media campaigns that raise awareness of the importance of quality public engagement. Use the “Democracy Communications Network” tag to see all the great articles that were written in association with this project. Also see the General Tips for Writing Op-Ed Articles. For our fifth round of letters to the editor, members of ... (continue)

Consensus conferences, also known as citizens' panels - a collection of lay citizens akin to a jury but charged with deliberating on policy issues with a high technical content - are a potentially important way to conduct technology assessments, inform policy makers about public views of new technologies, and improve public understanding of and participation in technological decision making. The first citizens' panel in the United States occurred in April 1997 on the issue of "Telecommunications and the Future of Democracy." This article evaluates the impact of this citizens' panel. (continue)

Consensus Conferences, developed in Denmark, are used in a variety of settings and typically involve a group of citizens with varied backgrounds who meet to discuss issues of a scientific or technical nature. The conference has two stages: the first involves small group meetings with experts to discuss the issues and work towards consensus. The second stage assembles experts, media and the public where the conferences main observations and conclusions are presented. (continue)