Government - the problem is in the language

Jeff Jarvis, in his new book, What Would Google Do, and on his blog, demonstrates that there is an inverse relationship between control and trust.

This is an issue for governments: the more control I have of the ship... the less citizens trust it...the more disenfranchised citizens feel...the less they get involved (tax avoidance, declining volunteerism, poor voter turnout)... now the government tries to "get more involvement" from the citizens so that the government has more legitmacy, more clout. Or, in some cases, the government happily goes about what it wants to do anyway, while people are looking the other way.

The problem is in the language. A government governs. That is, Government drives.

You can't say that a government that is elected with 60% of the vote, in a 25-40% voter turnout has a mandate. Imagine instead government as something that we all do. That the seat of government is distributed. City Hall is there to help people govern themselves. Better outcomes.

Vanchangecamp unconference is coming to Vancouver.