About the project: GOV.UK is the recently launched replacement for the Directgov and Businesslink websites, developed by the Government Digital Service (GDS). Developed in the open, the alpha and beta versions of GOV.UK were released to the public with the express intention of gathering as much feedback from actual site users as possible. High quality […]
Tag archives: discussion
Kitchen cabinet – DIY democracy
This post originally appeared on Huxley06. The huge drift away from mainstream democratic processes, the decline of those that vote and the increase in other direct actions (UKUncut) for example is gulf that must be closed for a well governed society. Governance may be a boring sounding word, but good governance means good engagement of […]
Webvotr – early days for a new democracy Facebook app
At the PEP-NET summit in Hamburg a little while ago, I met Gabor Mihucz, a Hungarian democracy activist, who pointed me at his organisation the Association for Societal Participation and their new project “webvotr“. Webvotr is still in concept form at the moment, but is intended as a Facebook app for democracy. The organisers say: We […]
A bit of love for the Living Voters Guide (Washington state)
Via the DO-Wire mailing list, I came across a great little site set up to help voters discuss and learn about the ballot initiatives in the 2011 elections in Washington state. You can take a look here: Your guide to the 2011 Washington Election – The Living Voters Guide. I particularly liked the Wrangl-like “Yes/no” […]
Petitions and discussions
The second of my posts over at the SOLACE Summit blog looks at e-petitions: Petitions and council consultations have this in common: they are great tools for campaigners who know what they want, and they can create an apparent groundswell of opinion (even if not strongly-held and based on “clicktivism” rather than real activism). However, neither […]
Lunchtime list for June 14th
Here are the articles and web pages the Talk Issues team recommend today: The lost art of democratic debate – A TED lecture by Michael Sandel (at Slugger) on the marginalised role of citizens' moral opinions in democratic discussion. Germany’s mindset has become solipsistic – Jürgen Habermas discusses the "perilous self-absorption" of Germany during the […]