Connected Democracy

The advent of the internethas allowed users to become more connected than ever before; connected with family and friends as well as connected with people with the same interests as you in every corner of the world. But the biggest advantage of being connected, especially in a representative democracy system that is our government, is the ability to get connected with our elected officials.

Getting involved in the political process is easier than ever before due to the internet. People can connect, mobilize, and cause action. People can join a movement, volunteer some of their time, and actually bring about change in the world they live in. It happened over the last year when people came together through the internet in support of Barack Obama’s bid for the presidency, and it’s been happening for years.

In 1998 the Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched the National Organic Program to set regulations on organic food. Over the internet alone, they received over 277,000 comments about a variety of topics. When the Roadless Area Conservation Initiative was started in 1999, the Dept. of the Interior and the Forest Service received 90,000 emails to go along with over a million letters.

The federal government wanted to diffuse this innovation throughout their operations, so in 2002 they launched Regulations.gov with the tagline “your choice in Federal decision making.” As of January 2008, over 90 percent of the federal government’s regulatory information is accessible through the site.

President-elect Barack Obama has promised“a new level of transparency, accountability, and participation for American citizens” when he takes office but actual details as to how he plans to do this are still quite vague. There has been speculation about a site that would give the public a dollar-by-dollar look at how their tax money is being spent by the government, but nothing is set in stone as of yet. This Google-for-Government will involve improving the transparency and access to the vast oceans of government data, in part, by moving this data into universally accessible formats. Before all this is done, the citizens of this nation need to understand and value the privilege that increases connectedness gives us.

“I haven’t contacted an elected official personally,” says Kaitlin Kennedy, a 7th semester accounting major at the University of Connecticut.  ”But since the internet makes it so simple to do so, I have peace of mind. I know that if I needed to voice my opinion about something, it would only be a click away.” 

If you want to learn more and become active in the Save Darfur Coalition, all you need is a computer with internet connection. If you want to connect with Barack Obamaand tell him how you envision the future of America, all you need is a computer with internetconnection. If you want to protest against Prop. 8, all you need is a computer with internet connection.

The internet has become so imperative to our every day life, so vital to our democracy and the well being of our nation, that it is hard to remember how we ever got along without it.

A. Martin