Personal Democracy blog
Posted on:: October 24th, 2004
The new Personal Democracy site and blog lis off to a strong start. E.g., Cory takes the first solo with an article called “Will Congress Outlaw Your iPod?” The list of contributors looks great, starting with Micah Sifry, one of the organizers of the site.
[Note: It’s a little awkward for me to tout this site since I’m one of the contributors, but, well, take a look at it and judge for yourself. Of course.]
Categories: Uncategorized dw
Interesting site, aggregates the people at the top end of the power curve (at the expense of the tail), makes people register to enter comments…
Where Was I on Sept 4, 2004? The FBI wants to know.
September 4, 2004 was a saturday morning after a great week: Arun and I had made lots of contacts in regards to developing a film project. The idea was to research building filming equipment for Arun, who has wet macular degeneration. We participated i…
Thank you I attended Pop Tech for the first time and I think you captured the essence of the whole experience in your series of notes on each of the speakers. It took me a while to crawl out of my miasma of middle america and engage with critial thinkers of subjects that rarely beset me. your notes have made me think of the rich presentations each and everyone of the presenters gave, yes even the scatalogical Grant McCracken who seeminly couldn’t even convince himself that day…..
Democracy has been and is being recommended as an ideal form of government.
As popularly claimed the ideals of democracy have been propagated by America. Democracy can no longer be associated with the Right to Franchise that equates to right to choose your elected representatives. Voting a government/ party into power or out of power is more of politics than of democracy. Diplomacy and manipulations play a key role in the degradation of democracy in many countries including America.
The status of Civil Society and its role and participation in the rules and regulations, advocacy etc tell a lot about how democracy is interpreted in a nation state. The state structure, role of civil society and participation of citizens in the decisions of the government and in the socio-economic development of the nation establish the avenue for democracy.
When the freedom of expression seemed to get regulated and organized under huge media names, law and schools of thought, the new media- the information technology and computer-mediated-communication showed a new light to the citizens of the earth to celebrate democracy.
Web-services like http://www.StateDemocracy.com one of the most popular political portals is one such tool that gives an innovative approach and orientation to democracy. Contact with your elected officials/ citizens, opinion votes on the legislature bills and views to the media on issues of concern are some features that provide you a platform of communication to the US citizens. About 30 elected representatives have vouched their support for this keen endeavor on democracy.
Not far away from scope is the largest democracy in Asia- India networking through http://www.IndiaDemocracy.com The website provides a platform for citizens as well as elected officials to share their thoughts and views on issues concern and politics through Articles, Forum discussions votes and comments on polls and issues, etc. The citizens of India have widely appreciated the services and contributed to its wide popularity and usage.
Pressure groups and Advocacy groups as well as concerned citizens play a pivotal role in influencing the manner in which the elected officials rule the nation, check misuse of power and make the people more politically and socially conscious thereby making them realize their rights and duties. http://www.Weblobbying.com basically gives a new life the mobilization of support for a cause for such proactive organizations and individuals in US through the online lobby tools and services.
On the same page http://www.JantaRaj.com (People Power) has been helping organizations, activists, social workers and common people interact with their elected representatives and like-minded people on vital issues and concerns.
All the above mentioned portals through their services and enhanced tools provide a medium for concerned citizens, non-government and non-profit organizations to convey their views and facilitate the ability of the common people to interact with their elected representatives. Through these humble contributions on E-Democracy, V-empower, Inc. looks forward to giving a new life to democracy and its interpretations. Nevertheless what matters most is the active participation of the citizens and elected officials in making such ventures successful in its goals to rebuild democracy!
I am not sure if I have answered all your questions on democracy. but look forward to a discourse on the same which will help us build and celebrate democracy in its true meaning.
Paul Brown
Editor
http://www.StateDemocrcy.com
6800 Willow Creek Road,
Bowie, MD 20720
Phone: 301 805 9194
Fax: 301 464 9583
Email: [email protected]