Politics in the Town Hall
Tuesday, July 11th, 2006 by Jamsterson - Grupthink TeamWe recently posted an analogy of Grupthink as “town hall”, in which consensus in a group is built via social interaction and education. Grupthink is already being used as a virtual town hall on a number of political issues. For example:
Bitdrifter posted “How would you identify yourself politically?“, a good demographic question that has enjoyed a lot of participation. Interestingly, the Grupies largely resisted categorization, though “liberals” ran a close second.
Perhaps not unrelated to the previous topic are the results of another topic by jslife, “What do you admire most about President Bush?” — Top answers included “Nothing” and “His amazing ability to slaughter the English language”. Ouch! (Bush fans may want to use the “Share this page” features to rally some more supporters.)
Other political topics explored on Grupthink lately include the death penalty, marijuana legalization, abortion, immigration, Iraq, and affirmative action. Talk about some hot-button issues! It brings up an interesting question:
How could Grupthink be used by government and community leaders to both inform and receive feedback from their constituencies? What do you think?
July 11th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
I think a good place to start would be to tap into the collective intelligence and experience of Project Vote Smart in Philipsburg. The question of constituent communications is a growing hot button for many state houses. Here are some of the initiatives underway. Perhaps portions or concepts could be incorporated into Grupthink:
Now Legislators can Phone Home to Thousands of Constituents. Tele-Town Hall is poised to shape the future of political exchange. http://www.matr.net/article-18747.html
Lawmaker-blogger keeps constituents up to date
http://www.matr.net/article-13622.html
Portland Mayor Begins a Blog. Is your elected official blogging? Here’s a list: http://www.matr.net/article-19034.html
Kentucky Governor Fletcher’s Website Now Offering Podcasting: http://www.matr.net/article-18090.html
Virtual Village Square. What does it take to transform a lackluster municipal Web site into a vibrant community meeting place?: http://www.matr.net/article-17484.html
Utah State Legislature’s Web site named nation’s best: http://www.matr.net/article-15753.html
In today’s communications explosion, the politicians that get elected will be those who can best manage information flow between themselves and their constituents.
July 11th, 2006 at 2:15 pm
Forgot to include this excellent observation of the challenges of elected official/constitutent communications.
http://www.matr.net/article-19790.html
July 14th, 2006 at 7:06 am
“Wikipedians Take On Elections”
“The candidates who will win elections in the future will be the candidates who build genuinely participative campaigns by generating and expanding genuine communities of engaged citizens.” http://www.matr.net/article-19859.html