From:
Peter Shane
Date:
Aug 26 19:57 UTC
Short link
At long last, a report entitled, "Building Democracy Through Online Citizen
Consultation: A Framework for Action," has emerged from an Ohio State
University conference of the same name. The document is intended as a brief
practical guide to public officials who are wondering (a) what e-democracy
is and (b) what sorts of issues need to be considered if an online
consultation is to be staged successfully. Helpful nuggets in the report
include Alexandra Samuel's hints for keeping online discussions on track and
a summary of a discussion she led of how to plan such an initiative, Lars
Hasselblad Torres's ideas for attracting and sustaining participation, Jerry
Kosicki's thoughts on achieving a representative sample of citizen opinion,
and a review of the respective pluses and minuses of online versus
face-to-face consultation (although doing one does not exclude doing the
other!). To get a copy of the report, go to
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/pldd/initiatives.php, and click the word "here" at
the end of the paragraph entitled, "Building Democracy Through Online
Citizen Consultation."
Best, Peter
Peter M. Shane
Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law and
Director, Project on Law and Democratic Development
Executive Director, Knight Commission on the Information Needs of
Communities in a Democracy
Moritz College of Law
The Ohio State University
55 West 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43201
Ph: 614-688-3014