97. Councillor question and answer pages

This is something I picked up at the recent Nesta Digital Democracy Day (I wrote about the day here).  The idea was one of many included in a rich presentation from super cool Taiwan ‘Digital’ Minister without Portfolio, Audrey Tang.

Upon taking office earlier this year Audrey set up a question and answer page for public and media enquiries on Wiselike (although I'm sure other solutions are available...).

Anyone can submit a question although it will only get published once the answer is published.  This gives complete content control and allows the page owner to curate their media responses in public.

As Audrey explained at the Nesta event, this is her single channel for dealing with the press.  So, if anyone wants her official line on something, or is simply looking for a story, this is the only place to go.

I think this idea has bags of potential for local democracy in the UK.

It would be great if councillors in their ward roles, but also as cabinet members and chairs of committees, could set up pages like this.

It would be a step towards making the process of local democracy more human by giving people and media direct contact with real people rather than the more traditional more corporate PR approach.

It is also something that councillors could (and should) manage for themselves – a ‘self-serve’ benefit of digital.

No doubt a degree of support and training behind the scenes will be required but the key point, I think, is that the councillors’ role as the face of local democracy is reinforced as is the principle of working openly in public.

What's not to like?

10. The New Civic Arena

Like Real Representation, the New Civic Arena is a summary of some ideas put forward by Gerry Stoker in his book Why Politics Matters.

The 'civic arena' refers to the space between the formal institutions of government and the private lives of citizens. It includes the voluntary sector, the media, public debate, popular campaigns and anything else that forms the environment where citizens experience their citizenship.

Stoker suggests a range of reforms that will strengthen this civic arena and create something new.  The aim is to create the right conditions for what Stoker calls a 'politics for amateurs' to take place.

Stoker’s suggestions come in three parts:

1.  New forms of Citizen Engagement

 There are a wealth of innovative ways that citizens can be engaged. The point is not to advocate any in particular but to promote their use more generally.  Ultimately citizens will decide which innovations will come to the fore by supporting those which they perceive will make a difference and those which can fit easily into busy modern lives. 

In his book Stoker does discuss different types of innovations which he breaks down into:

• Consultative innovations
• Deliberative innovations
• Co-Governance Innovations
• Direct Democracy Innovations
• E-Democracy Innovations

2.  Encouraging ‘Civicness’ and Voluntary Activity

Citizenship can be built in a whole range of ways that do not involve dealing directly with government and other public bodies.  In the New Civic Arena, therefore it is important to encourage 'citizen to citizen' activity through community projects and schemes such as time banks.  These types of initiatives have immediate practical benefits for citizens but they also act as a stepping stone to other forms of more political engagement.

3.  Information Flow and Understanding: Citizen Education and the Media

Reform also needs to extend to the institutions that 'frame' citizenship.  In this case both education for citizenship (for all not just the young) and the way in which the media reports politics.  For the latter Stoker highlights the need for a civic journalism which takes more of an explanatory and public interest approach to the issues.

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The idea of the New Civic Arena has a clear resonance with the concept of the Big Society currently being promoted by the UK Government (See David Wilcox's blog for a proper discussion of the Big Society).  However, whilst the problem that the Big Society seems to be aimed at solving is social needs, the New Civic Arena aims to address political disenchantment.  Nevertheless, the overlap between the two ideas is obvious.