Political Studies 330

It was a pretty boring Political Parties course, and it was 1977. Some students were discussing how to encourage more voting - people weren't getting a voice because they were apathetic. Voter apathy is the enemy of democracy etc. Good people were asking, how can we get them involved.

Well it struck me that this concern about voting was a kind of specialized obsession. Shouldn't citizen engagement be something much more wholesome and fulfilling than this, after all.

That self governance will be better enabled using web tools is probable. After all, there are economic drivers ('more for less') propelling it. But probable success factors are all about money and efficiency and intention, spirit and design. Thinking the litmus test is - does this BOWEGOV etc help people come home to themselves. How to measure this may be 'happy' indices, or, put another way - 'spirit of giving/sharing' indices.