Here’s a video clip about the ‘I’m a councillor – get me out of here’ project – and here’s a bit of background to the film. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCQH0HNqDO8] It’s a really brilliant project – where local authorities have any interest in being creative about the way councillors engage with young people (a learning experience – and [...]
Posts from ‘April, 2009’
Reinventing democracy
At the start of May, there’s a forum on the future of democracy taking place in Grenoble. Sounds like a fascinating event, although on the academic rather than practical end of the conference spectrum. Pierre Rosanvallon, Professor at the College de France, has written an explanatory article for (of course) Le Monde, which is well [...]
We know what you don't want. Now what DO you want?
The Guardian’s Catherine Bennett is right to be worried about the impact that a climate of hypercommentary on personal tics will have on politics: “With the internet demanding ever-improving performance skills from its principal actors, Westminster can only become less hospitable to people who look more like Menzies Campbell than Ant and Dec. Unless, that [...]
Left front = a table?
One of the nice things about the dynamic way that the internet arranges things is that you sometimes stumble upon artifacts that you don’t understand, but that look fascinating. This Icelandic blog, for instance, is a complete mystery to me. I found it years ago and visit it once every few months. I’ve no idea [...]
Pro-social councils
Here’s the RSA’s Matthew Taylor making the case for a pro-social framework for local government. This bit may seem like a triumph of hope over expectations, but it’s interesting to ask ourselves why that would be: “Engage local councillors in a redefinition of politics and social change, moving from a government-centric to a citizen-centric model. [...]
Digital Britain – unconferences
For anyone interested in social inclusion and online participation, this is an exciting initiative. Go and have a look! Let me take this opportunity to tell my friends in Northern Ireland that I didn’t design the site though….
Populist policing and speedy decisions
Apologies for the light posting this week. I’ve been in Northern Ireland where I met someone who was studying criminology. Her key concern was the question of local control of policing and populism: Would devolved policing result in a deterioration into populism. Northern Ireland is an interesting case in point, given the historic divides. Unionists, with [...]
You need to learn how to use your computer
If you read this blog, you must know a few influential people? Maybe they’ve been elected, or have some official role that is, in reality, more powerful than someone who has been elected? Would they be the sort of person who would get someone else to do anything vaguely complicated with a PC? Do they [...]
The internet is now the primary source of political news
Neighbourhood blogger Kevin Harris has emailed me with a tip about this post over at SmartMobs: According to this Pew survey … Some 74% of internet users-representing 55% of the entire adult population–went online in 2008 to get involved in the political process or to get news and information about the election. This marks the first time [...]
Benchmarking and 'empowerment' are two different things
Wonk-blogger Will Davies has an excellent post up here. Quoting the Communities in Control White Paper as follows… We believe that the causes of political disengagement, while complex, can be distilled to a dominant factor: a sense of powerlessness on the part of most citizens that their voices are not being heard, their views not listened [...]
