> The reaction was that this should be expanded. The idea being that
> activists wishing to present a resolution to one committee might could
> find successful resolutions submitted to other committees. We created
> Drafting Democracy, http://www.draftingdemocracy.org
>
> Unfortunately, this never picked up, and it is sitting out there idle.
>
> As a technologist, I did all of this in Drupal, since I had set up a
> lot of Drupal sites and it was an easy platform to build what I
> wanted.
>
> I should note that the focus here was on citizens creating resolutions
> to go before committees, instead of people drafting legislation.
That's still pretty close, as an application. Do you have a sense of
why, as you say, it did not pick up?
How were "successful resolutions" communicated back to the
participants? Or more generally, what kind of feedback did they get in
return for the effort of participation?
> In terms of the current legislative process in the United States, or
> at least in Connecticut, I could see this working, if you could find
> enough people interested in proposing legislation. In Connecticut, I
> seem to recall stories of people submitting legislation. I don't know
> the logistics of it, whether they need to get the State Representative
> to sign off, or what. However, I suspect that many State Reps would
> respond favorably, especially if there are a bunch of people behind
> the bill.
>
> The reason I suspect this, is also a reason I have doubts about it
> working. My wife ran for State Representative in Connecticut. During
> the campaign, people told us that 85% of the people in the United
> States do not know who their State Rep is. Based on our experience,
> even with people who are fairly politically involved, that appeared to
> be pretty accurate. There is a small amount of interest in passing
> resolutions before some committee. There is a much smaller amount of
> interest in passing legislation.
If I agree that public apathy toward politics is alarming, I also have
to admit that I do not know the name of my MPP in the Legislative
Assembly (Ontario). But I do vote. And if my province ever gave me
additional responsibilities, or other meaningful ways of becoming
involved in politics, then I would do my part. I do have some
concerns that are often on my mind. But I never get the opportunity to
act on them. My province makes no provision for my political
concerns, aside from a vote once every 4 years. I could just as easily
accuse my province of political apathy, because it does not know about
my concerns. And I doubt that my MPP knows my name either, even though
he has the responsibility to represent me.
> In addition, the legalese necessary for a new law, the things that get
> examined in the legislative process, such as the economic impact on
> the State, who it relates to other laws, jurisdictions, etc can be
> considerable and might require major modification before the proposal
> becomes a law, or extremely savvy drafters of the legislation.
>
> So, technically, it looks pretty easy. Socially, my guess is that it
> will take a lot of work. If I were to start, I might not start with
> the technology, but with getting people involved in the existing
> legislative process. For each bill going through a legislative body,
> it would be good to have the votes online, as well as a place for
> legislatures to record why they voted the way they did, and for
> constituents to join a discussion about whether they agree or disagree
> with their legislators.
That makes a lot of sense. It has to be a gradual step-wise
introduction, not only in order to develop the technology (testing it,
proving it, familiarizing people with it), but also to develop the
social side. Citizens would need time to familiarize themselves with
the business of politics, and they would learn by watching
professional legislators at work. (And I bet the professionals would
learn new things too, both about their constituents, and about
politics.)
> While big bills in the U.S. Congress may get overwhelming messages of
> support or opposition, smaller bills do not, and many legislators at
> the State level rarely here from their constituents.
>
> All in all, I think it is a great idea, that should be built up to.
> That's my rant. I would love to hear other people's thoughts.