Paper Proposal- Individuals, Technology, Government and Power
I have been considering a theoretical paper for the final assignment focusing on citizens and their sense of personal power regarding technology and informatics. I would be interested to see if there are different areas of technology that makes individuals feel more empowered than in other areas; for example, do people feel more empowered in the private sphere versus the public sphere? That being said, I would like to focus primarily on the relationship between government and informatics.
Government has taken pains to utilize technological tools to communicate and work with individual citizens. This falls in line with Malamud’s (2009) argument about the relationship of government and citizens; he argues that there have been three waves in the history of government determining the obligation government has taken on to communicate and work with American citizens (42). Malamud predicts, “We are now witnessing a third wave of change- an Internet wave- where the underpinnings and machinery of government are used not only by bureaucrats and civil servants, but by the people. This change has the potential to be equally fundamental…Today public means online” (43, 46). Through the course, we have studied how government is working to increase the interactive nature of its online information. It would seem that if government strives to increase transparency and openness through technology and informatics that citizens may develop a new relationship with government institutions.
Of course, there are issues with the presentation of information; I would be interested to see if there has been research regarding the overflow of information and the navigability of the information. If government information is present but difficult to locate or interpret, the transparency objective is not being met. Another issue to examine is the way in which individuals interact online and the potential differences between citizens gaining a sensation of power versus actual input on the system itself. Individuals are learning about the resources available from the government and expectations of information sharing has increased, but we are still in a transition period for determining the relationship of citizens and governance. Currently there is a great deal of outreach to other citizens but we are not at the point of government institutions receiving direct input from individuals through online technologies. Noveck (2009) provides an illustration of such a schism, “But while online communities to date may have enabled people to click together instead of bowling alone, they are not yet producing changes in the way government institutions obtain and use information. These purely civic programs are disconnected from the practices and priorities of government” (55).
I will continue to develop the paper proposal and will have a more defined topic and sources by the time the abstract is submitted.
Tanya,
ReplyDeleteSome of what you identify above would dovetail neatly into an individual project on the appropriate time for games in governance. So instead of your questions being "do people feel more empowered in the private sphere versus the public sphere?", the questions is "using the frameworks from Jane's and Seth's talk, can we anticipate when do people feel empowered to act" and the sub questions then become. "How does the current design of participation in elections and other political processes create an game like environment where we do not control? and what are the consequences of this toward..." and "What possibilities exist to apply games appropriately to governance activities?"
Yes, I do believe people feel more empowered in the private sphere versus the public sphere. It has been a constant battle between the two. This is primarily seen in corrections among the security and inmate population. It appears to be a constant blame game I can not wait to read your assignment. I would suggest you add a little of corrections. The most recent was the escape from Kingman this was a public/private battle that ended up bad. Great material and its current. Good luck and have fun!
ReplyDeleteMy comment may be coming from left field but what I think of when I read your idea, which I like, is the expectation of the private sector (ie: citizens and organizations) to have gov't services provided quickly and easily. Today's landscape is one of "just in time" information and if the gov't could provide that sort of service relative to it's offerings, I think there would be a huge gap bridged between the govt and private sector.
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