Parliaments are in trouble. Invented – in the form we know them – nearly 800 years ago to prevent the abuse of executive power, they struggle today to meet same goal. In the 21st century, executive power is no longer exercised from neat, single locations that are reflected in legislatures. If the democratic control of power is to be reasserted, alternative democratic innovations must be considered. This post looks at such potential innovations – and considers some of arguments for why they’re necessary. It argues that the location-less nature of the Internet may suggest a solution in the form of a multi-layered platform – a ‘parliament everywhere’.
Category: Thinking
Inspired by Lada Adamic‘s excellent Coursera on Social Network Analysis I thought it might be interesting to try to graph the network of Twiplomats – the world leaders or diplomats on twitter. Simply to see who follows who, who the central nodes in the network are, and whether hubs or communities have developed.
About a month ago I posted a proposal for an Open United Nations web platform. This is the idea of making global governance – the discourse, debates and decision-making at the UN and beyond – more transparent.
I thought it might be useful (to me, at least) to blog about what it’s like to try to start something like this despite having no idea what you’re doing. Here’s post number one.
Categories
Imaginer une ‘Open’ ONU
Le mouvement “Open“ (“ouvert” en anglais) est en plein essor. Il existe actuellement des projets de gouvernements ouverts, de budgets participatifs, d’ “Open Charities” et même d’ “Open Corporates (EN)” (pour une plus grande transparence des entreprises).
Mais il n’y a toujours pas d’organisations internationales “ouvertes”: pas d’Open FMI, d’Open World Bank ou d’Open OMC.
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Videos I liked this week
1. Moleskines are expensive. Because they have to pay for lovely marketing like this:
2. The new Myspace looks a billion dollars. Which is considerably more than its share price.
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The ‘Open’ movement is in full force. There are now projects for Open Governments, Open Budgets, Open Charities, and even Open Corporates.
But, as yet, there are no Open International Organisations. No Open IMF, no Open World Bank, no Open World Trade Organization.
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Towards a UN social media strategy
As well as writing my MA dissertation, I spent this summer interning with the United Nations Department for Public Information. And in particular with the social media ‘focal point’ in that department.
It made a lot of sense – I love a bit of a digital communication, I’m passionate about global affairs and I think social media changes the way the world will be governed.
The UN – in its central role as an inter-national organisation – is a particularly old-fashioned way of governing the world, but one that, by virtue of its wide membership is often said to be the most ‘legitimate’ way of setting global rules. (As opposed to something like the G20, for example.)
But legitimacy is granted by the public in complex ways, and if the UN doesn’t open up or engage with people on a more personal level, I believe it will struggle to remain relevant.
Joe blogs. 