Whenever my kids tell me how their teachers don’t want them to use Wikipedia as a source I redouble my effort to show them why Wikipedia is important and how it works. In particular, I make sure they understand how to look at the history of a page and to check out the discussion or “talk” page that sits behind the content page. Two principles of those pages are critically important. First, they are inclusive by allowing anyone to contribute to the process at least initially (on some controversial subjects there are eventual restrictions). Second, they provide a complete historical and entirely public record of change.
The New York City General Assembly which is the governance for Occupy Wallstreet is successfully emulating these principles in a real world deliberation process. Anyone can participate in the working groups and the General Assembly (open access) and there are detailed minutes online from both the coordinators’ meetings and the General Assembly itself (public record).
The contrast between Wikipedia, Occupy Wallstreet and how our Congress is run couldn’t be more stark. Instead of doing the bulk of its work in openly accessible committees and on the floor of the House and the Senate, most drafting of legislation happens behind closed doors. Access to those drafting the bills is largely regulated by money with access being available to those who fill the campaign coffers of the politicians.
What is to be done? We need to figure out how to use technology to bring the principles of open access and public record to government. Together these could help overcome the influence of money in politics.
