Gene Koo on techPresident: From campaigning to governance 1: civic engagement
Berkman Fellow Gene Koo discusses From campaigning to governance 1: civic engagement at the Personal Democracy Forum's techPresident.
"Yes we can," as an election slogan, implies a relatively simple mission: get more people to cast a ballot for your candidate than for the other one. But as Barack Obama’s creed pivots from a battle cry to a governing philosophy, what, exactly, “we can” becomes a much larger and more complex matter. So, too, is the potential role technology can play in an Obama administration.
In this series of essays I’ll look at how Obama’s new CTO might transform American democracy in three areas: civic engagement, administrative transparency, and legislative advocacy.
"Yes we can," as an election slogan, implies a relatively simple mission: get more people to cast a ballot for your candidate than for the other one. But as Barack Obama’s creed pivots from a battle cry to a governing philosophy, what, exactly, “we can” becomes a much larger and more complex matter. So, too, is the potential role technology can play in an Obama administration.
In this series of essays I’ll look at how Obama’s new CTO might transform American democracy in three areas: civic engagement, administrative transparency, and legislative advocacy.
I. Civic Engagement: less than Peace Corps, More than taxes
Barack Obama promises to re-ignite American civic life; he repeatedly proclaimed that the election wasn’t about him but rather “you.” His Plan for Voluntary Citizen Servicedescribes “a craigslist for service,” with “user ratings and social network features.” Frankly, this idea is rather dull and unimaginative, besides being redundant of Idealist.org. (Also, most nonprofits need commitments, not one-shot volunteers; Match.com offers a better template than craigslist). But the Plan does point out the gap in civic participation options between merely paying taxes and making long-term bodily commitments to the military or the Peace Corps.
Rather than promote volunteer "crowdsourcing," I hope the Administration will push what it did so well in the campaign: build good infrastructure, provide deep training, and support team-/ community-building. In short, Obama should invest less in volunteers and more in the infrastructure of volunteerism – including powerful technology tools.