What is web 2.0 and how might it affect other aspects of our world? When I stumbled across this graphic, I couldn't help but think, democracy 2.0, law 2.0 - what's that? How could democracy or the law be anything like web 2.0? Sure, democracy intends for control by the masses and theoretically anyone can contribute to the law - they can call their local politicians and ask for a new law to be considered. But does this really happen? Yah, we are able to vote, but how many of us had a say in what it is we are voting on? The barriers present in openly participating in democracy and the law are much more difficult to overcome. You can't simply log on and change the law or even suggest a new one. If you could, would it be a good thing? I'm not sure. Maybe. Would people actually take advantage of the opportunity? I guess if they knew it was an option and felt compelled to share their idea. On the one hand, open participation harnesses collective intelligence, which could lead to 'better' laws - ones with fewer negative consequences to the rest of the system. But, would it be possible to sort through everyone's input? How could a system like that be regulated? While I may not be qualified to hypothesize how the concept behind web 2.0 can be applied to government, it's still interesting to consider. And with what it has done for other fields, I'm optimistic that it will one day benefit society.
Interesting thought regarding Democracy 2.0- it made me think of our particular form- representative democracy and how it might be changed by the widespread usage of web 2.0 tools. In California, generally considered a fairly liberal state, by using a referendum instead of representatives voting in congressional style sessions, the public voted to define marriage as between one woman and one man, effectively make gay marriage illegal. What's the point? The point is, that by using a "pure" democracy (one person, one vote) the state did what it could not do with the representative system. Depending on your political point of view, this could change society for the better or worse- would civil rights reform have been passed if it had been left to voters? Do we individually have the political will that presidents and congressmen have to do what is right?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure exactly whether web 2.0 would ever be used to directly tally votes, but it certainly can and has been used to affect politics, and is probably the most prevalent tool out there.
Good post- I hadn't really considered the overall political ramifications.
While representative democracy in the U.S. was designed as "representative" by necessity--both the distances involved and the communication technologies available made direct democracy implausible--our constitutional framers also intentionally made the legislative process slow. The nimbleness that Democracy 2.0 might offer may give us national veritgo!
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