Issues Forums

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Issues Forums

• By Steven Clift, E-Democracy.Org

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Agenda

• Perspective
• British Expedition What they discovered
• How Issues Forums Work
• Participant Interviews
• Issues Forums Today

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Perspective
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Defining e-democracy

• E-democracy is
• the use information and communication
  technologies and strategies
• by democratic sectors
• within the political processes of local
  communities, states, nations and on the global
  stage.
• Whats missing?

Political Groups
Private Sector
Government
Media and Commercial Content
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Defining e-democracy

• E-democracy
• is now, what kind is it?
• is accelerating as is politics
• will promote active citizen participation only
  by taking the e-citizen perspective
• E-Democracy.Org focuses on the that perspective,
  reaching across the political spectrum, embracing
  local geography

Political Groups
E-Citizens
Private Sector
Government
Media and Commercial Content
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Say What?

• The most democratizing aspect of the Internet is
  the ability for people to organize and
  communicate in groups.
• Steven Clift from Democracy is Online article in,
  OnTheInternet, April 1998

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The British Expedition
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UK ODPM/E-democracy Project Visit

• July 2004 visit by Office of the Deputy Prime
  Minister and UK Local E-democracy National
  Project Visit
• Met forum managers, and citizen volunteers
  involved with local forums in Minneapolis, St.
  Paul, and Winona
• Gathered samples to plant back in the UK
• National Project overview
• http//www.dowire.org/notes/?p223

Images from Northfield.org Visit
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E-Democracy.Org History

• Launched worlds first election-oriented web
  site in 1994
• Included citizen-to-citizen MN-POLITICS e-mail
  discussion forum, people kept talking after
  election
• Model localized with 1998 launch of Minneapolis
  Issues Forum
• Volunteer-based, non-profit community
  organization

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Why Issues Forums are Needed

• Effective citizen engagement any time, anywhere
  agenda-setting
• Share community knowledge of public leaders and
  active citizens with all civic learning
• Openness and accountability accountability of
  citizens, the local media, and government

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Why Issues Forum are Needed

• Globally, most non-partisan e-democracy efforts
  are government-based, need cost-effective
  complement to e-consultations
• Most citizen efforts have an activist view point
  and advocate politically often anti-something
• Many local forums are anonymous rough and tumble
  exchanges privately owned spaces, few offer
  e-mail options
• Cost-effective starting point provides
  e-citizen foundation for additional activities,
  priming effort

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How Issues Forums Work
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How Issues Forums Work
Starting with private citizens moving toward
public e-citizens
Citizens
Extensive personal e-mail networks exist
friends, family, co-workers
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How Issues Forums Work
Local E-Democracy group creates the public
space, defines charter (scope)
Citizens
Issues Forum GroupServer e-mails posts web view
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How Issues Forums Work
Recruit citizens, councillors, media, etc. with
sticky opt-in
Citizens
Issues Forum GroupServer e-mails posts web view
Subscribe once Commitment secured
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How Issues Forums Work

• Participants agree to rules
• Sign real name
• Post no more than twice a day
• Stay within scope of local charter
• Understand that with two warnings they can be
  suspended for two weeks, three warnings six
  months, etc..
• Forum is facilitated, NOT pre-moderated, those
  posting content are 100 responsible for what
  they post

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How Issues Forums Work
Position forum in center of real power
Mayor
Researcher
Citizen 1
Student
Reporter
Citizen 2
Citizens
Issues Forum GroupServer e-mails posts web view
Candidate
Post via e-mail/web
Political Activist
Citizen 500
City Council
e-publish, many-to-many
Neighborhood Leader
Gadfly
Forum Manager
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Issues Forums
Agenda-setting discussions, e-mail leaks,
facilitation and rule enforcement key
Mayor
Researcher
Citizen 1
Student
Reporter
Online discussions in the heart of local power
Citizen 2
Citizens
Issues Forum GroupServer e-mails posts web view
Candidate
Subscribe once Commitment secured Post via
e-mail/web
Political Activist
Citizen 500
City Council
Neighborhood Leader
Gadfly
Forum Manager
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E-Democracy Experience

• http//e-democracy.org/experience

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Dori from St. Paul

• Active citizens and average citizens raise
  their voices
• Ten minute GSE (Gopher State Ethanol) video at
• http//e-democracy.org/experience
• Dori Ullman raises her voice about the stench

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Jamal from Minneapolis

• Large Somali community in Minneapolis
• Their voice was missing despite past outreach
• Bus strike provided motivation and real world
  reason to join and post to forum
• Contacted by Mayor, media based on forum posts

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Mayor Rybak from Minneapolis

• In 2001, RT Rybak announced mayoral candidacy on
  forum before press conference
• Continues to post monthly
• Video clips
• The Seven O'clock Meeting
• Budget Issues - Informing
• Lets Ski - Gathering Ideas
• Two-way Wont Kill You

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(No Transcript)
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Squirrel Story

• Steven Clift posted humorously about the public
  health risks of a large squirrel population in
  the Minneapolis forums early days.
• From Southwest Journal newspaper
• by Martiga Lohn
• Most days, mpls-issues is a substantive
  discussion of important public policy issues
• However here are a few excerpts from this
  burning issue
• gt Go to hardware storebuy trapset trackkill
  squirrel. End of public policy question.
• gt Grab a trap and KILL the squirrel????????? Why
  must we destroy a living thing as a solution?

• gt Rocky and his friends are out of control. If
  you want evidence, try to eat a sandwich on a
  bench in Loring Park.
• gt Quit telling people to move their nasty attack
  squirrels to wooded areas (i.e., Minneapolis
  parks) we already have our fair share.
• gt I ran on an anti-squirrel platform for Student
  Legislature at Syracuse University in my freshman
  year in college. I promised to eradicate the
  nuisance squirrel population. It was my first
  election loss.

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Issues Forums Today
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Local Issues Forums Today

• Minneapolis 694 members
• St. Paul 423 members
• Roseville 134 members, opened July 06
• Winona 197 members
• Brighton and Hove 242 members
• Newham 155 members
• KW Nhood, Bristol - 79 mbrs, opened Oct 11
• Other communities are expressing interest,
  forming steering committees.

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UK Pilots Experience

• Call for interest Brighton Hove, Newham
  emerge in early 2005
• Guidebook produced
• Steering committees
• Charter and rules
• Forum managers
• Recruitment
• Launch and facilitation
• GroupServer used, released open source
• Case study, evaluation, multimedia, etc.

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Brighton Hove Today
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GroupServer E-mail/web

• Easy to find
• By geography
• E-mail or web- your choice
• Technology enhancements
• Share through open source
• More http//e-democracy.org/groupserver

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Sample Forum Web View
Entering reply here
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Sample Forum E-mail View
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How to Start One
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How to Start One

• Watch Experience
• http//e-democracy.org/experience
• Read 60 Page Guidebook
• http//e-democracy.org/if
• Join Liftoff
• http//forums.e-democracy.org
• Contact E-Democracy.Org Join Class of 2007
• Volunteer-based model that requires at least 4
  citizens on your local steering committee

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How to Start One

• Recruitment phase essential if you can attract
  funding for an accelerated start-up, this is the
  a key area to dedicate resources for inclusivity
• Forum manager volunteer role crucial avoid
  professionalizing core Issues Forum efforts to
  keep model extremely low cost
• Add-on special events and consultations may
  require funding with stipends or compensation
• E-Democracy.Org hosts shared GroupServer
  platform, building Rotary Club like chapter
  model

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Conclusion
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Conclusion

• This model is about your local democracy it
  must be authentically local.
• Together we can build a global model for local
  democracy in the information age.
• Everything
• http//e-democracy.org/if