Open Left

I like your term "civic engagement engine" (0.00 / 0)

In terms of citizen-involvement vs. consumer politics, I see Obama's campaign as a transitional one.  The same will apply to his presidency.  One area where the netroots should work with him and also lead/push him is his still-vague ideas for using the Internet to open up government to efficient citizen review, input, dialog and influence.

If it goes well, this democratizing trend in the federal government will dovetail in mutually beneficial ways with more local, bottoms-up, community-centric developments that encompass both electronic and in-person activities and interactions, and both local government and non-government entities.

The toolkit, power and scope of the netroots should be able to expand pretty dramatically during an Obama administration, and a key part of its role will be to keep him honest and on track in terms of "re-forming" government-citizen relationships.

One of the virtues of broadband Internet connectivity is that it creates channels for productive linkages between local, national and global organizations, ideas and initiatives.  I've been reading lately about the various and near-overwhelming problems we face as a country and a planet.  My sense is that addressing them in ways that are even close to sufficient to avoid catastrophic suffering will require very fundamental changes in how our political and economic systems function, and that a key part of this will be strong, productive, responsive, resilient, dynamically adaptive and constantly evolving local-global linkages, including access to power-leveraging points at various levels of government.

The future of political campaigns may in fact resemble 19th century campaigns in key respects, as you suggest.  But future political activity will also be unique and uniquely powerful in that it will have the functionality and connectivity of the global Internet at its core and at its disposal.  Increasingly, we'll need to think AND act locally AND globally, and will have the ability to do so, and to help and encourage others to do the same, whether they are our neighbor or live on the other side of the world.

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by: mitchipd @ Mon Jun 23, 2008 at 17:58:17 PM CDT