Blog
You searched for "legislation"
Show current entries »


Let the need drive the technology in civic engagement
Posted by Norma Ramos on September 09, 2011 at 11:26 AM CDT


I recently attended a conference for civic engagement academics and practitioners who discussed the role of technology in engaging citizens in democratic activities.  While there was a real sense of excitement about the potential that the Internet, mobile devices, and interactive applications hold for creating better informed and engaged citizens, that excitement was balanced by several concerns about the limitations or even negative consequences of a rush to adopt new technologies in our field.  One nearly universal concern among participants was that high-tech engagement tools, particularly those that are Internet-based, could replicate existing digital or non-digital divides in society usually associated with cost of access, differences in educational attainment, income, and other factors. 


Another concern was that with technology advancing so quickly there could be a drive for seeking a use for a particular application rather than first identifying a need/problem that technology could help solve.  I know that sometimes we don’t ‘see’ the need for something to be done better until a technology comes along that demonstrates its potential to us.  However, I think the concern here was more rooted in the ‘cool’ factor of a particular technology blinding us to the fact that it may actually be expensive, more time consuming to set up, or introduce new challenges for engaging citizens in a deliberative process.


71086592


More research is needed to fully understand the ways that technology is helping/can help people become better engaged.  For example, a certain technology may make it easier for a facilitator to engage or communicate with larger numbers of citizens than before.  However, is that communication more likely to result in a citizen becoming better informed or participating more fully in our democracy?  With the overwhelming speed with which the Internet has become a ubiquitous communication tool, research is only beginning to catch up in this area, and even then good longitudinal research needs enough time to generate useful results.  Some of these concerns are addressed in recent research supported by the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 


There was general agreement at the conference on the potential for technology to transform how people participate in democracies – in fact that transformation is clearly underway.  My impression is that there was consensus that the use of technology is to be welcomed, rather than feared.  At the same time, the use of technology should be 1) filling a clearly identified need 2) improving the scale and/or quality of engagement  and 3) resulting in more inclusive participation of different segments of our population, or at the very least not creating a more exclusive form of participation.


Joseph K. Hoereth, PhD
Director, IPCE 

 

keywords





2012 election
2014 election
action
action
activists
alderman
Americans
apps
archives
art
artists
author
book
budget
budget
campaigning
charity
chicago
Chicago metro
cities
citizens
citizenship
city
city council
civic data
civic education
civic engagement
civic hacking
civic infrastructure
civic learning
civicsource
civil rights
climate change
collaboration
collective action
college
college affordabilit
communication
communities
community
community college
community health
community organizing
competition
Congress
connectivity
Constitution
conversation
Cook County
corruption
CPS
creativity
criminal justice
crowdfunding
crowdsourcing
CTU
culture
CUPPA
data
debate
decision
deliberation
deliberation
democracy
development
dialogue
dialogue&deliberatio
diaspora
digital divide
digital media
digital technology
disabilities
documentary
e-democracy
e-gov
economy
education
elected officials
elections
employment
engaged learning
entrepreneur
environment
equality
ethics
farms
film
FLOTUS
food
food banks
food deserts
forum
gay marriage
General Assembly
gentrification
global affairs
GOP
government
governor
grassroots campaign
gubernatorial electi
health care
health care reform
heritage
high school
higher education
history
HIV/AIDS
holiday
homelessness
house of representat
human rights
ideas
illinois
immigration
impact
important numbers
inequality
infographics
information
innovation
innovation
Internet
interview
IPCE
IPCE
issues
k-12
Latinos
laws
leaders
leadership
learning
lecture series
legislation
liberal arts
library
lobby
lobbyists
local govt
map
mayor
media
mental health
middle class
military
Millenials
museum
NATO
neighborhood
news
news
non-profit organizat
nonprofit
Olympics
online engagement
open data
open government
parents
parking
participatory budget
PBChicago
philosophy
placemaking
police
policy debates
policymakers
politics
Pres. Obama
president
problem solving
protest
protesters
public
public data
public office
public participation
public transit
Puerto Ricans
questions
quotes
radio
recycling
referendums
reform
representatives
research
roundtable
school board
school closings
school districts
schools
segregation
senator
seniors
sequester
service
service
small businesses
social change
social media
solutions
SOTU
speech
Springfield
states
STEM
stories
storytelling
strike
students
Supreme Court
sustainability
taxes
teachers
technology
technology
teens
TIF
town hall meeting
transparency
UIC
university
urban planning
USA
veterans
violence
volunteer
voter registration
voting
wards
Washington D.C.
web
web development
White House
women
youth
YouTube


ARCHIVES

September 2010
September 2011
June 2012
July 2012
September 2012
October 2012
March 2013
June 2013
July 2013
August 2013
April 2014