US Government and Citizenship Class

This week I'm mostly searching for more current open government sites and more examples of historical events that increased government participation.

It kind of reminds me of the
Subway trademark.

I found this blog post on gov.loop.com.  Whether or not I agree with the author's opinions is irrelevant.  What's important is that this woman has proposed an idea for how to decrease corporate influence during elections, and in legislative measures in general.  nationwide-grassroots-project-will-amend-us-constitution  In this case, this blog is not necessarily communicating directly with government representatives, but telling us to send messages to our Congress members to order a convention.  The author has a purpose and a proposed means of achieving that purpose.  She tells her audience simply what they can do to create a change by interacting with government officials.

That's an excellent example of how to increase open government participation.  Have a goal and a way to achieve that goal.  Teach simply and give clear direction.  Really, that's a good way to increase participation in any area.


I am more and more convinced that in order to really increase participation and collaboration in government, we must educate people on how to do it.  I found govloop.com itself after someone showed me this online slideshow http://www.slideshare.net/.  Without someone else helping me, I wouldn't know where to start.  If the public is going to participate online (which, as I've mentioned, means both consuming government output, and then commenting on that output and connecting with government officials), the public must be informed about how to participate.

When I was in high school, I took a mandatory class called US Government and Citizenship.  I learned about the Constitution, basic Federal procedures, the voting process, political parties, etc.  And, hey, I took that class online!  How easy would it be to include a brief section about websites and other ways to stay connected with the government in a class like that?  It's already mandatory, so every graduating student will have passed through it, and if there was just the smallest part dedicated to teaching about where citizens can find out about government procedures, what resources they have available to learn about how to get involved, and ways they can contact representatives, it would influence an entire generation of citizens.  Furthermore, a class like that could be offered at the college level, or at community centers.

So far, education sounds like the best route.  The slideshow linked above explains that we move from education to observation to broadcasting to participating to building relationships to collaborating.  The first step is to educate.