Citizen Engagement

How can federal agencies use social media to increase civic participation?

Anna York and I have spent the last 6 months working on a report looking at how U.S. Federal Agencies can use social media to enhance civic participation. Our work focuses more on the civic participation side than the web 2.0 side, and we hope that this report will help agencies as they begin toRead… Read more »

Invite our customers in – at their convenience

Lunched with Mom and daughter today. We have Ladies Lunches, when all three generations of us females go out to lunch together and share sandwiches, cake and giggles. We met Mom at the mall and she looked rather harassed. She sighed, “I have this letter from the Council about my refuse collection and I don’tRead… Read more »

Think your customers/citizens are stupid? Guess who their leader is…

Providing great services and products is difficult for businesses, government agencies, everyone. It is easy to blame the customers, or the citizens, for not understanding the complexity of issues ranging from how to install your product to the need for building permits. While, to be honest, there a likely a couple of knowledge-challenged people amongRead… Read more »

Project of the Week: Opengov.gr and “The Citizen Initiator”

We in the States know how a new government with new ideas about transparency and new technology to implement them can make a difference in public perception. Other nations’ new governments are taking a lesson from our shores, and experiencing positive feedback as a result. But is this kind of foray into participatory democracy reallyRead… Read more »