A discussion about the opportunities and difficulties presented by the idea of digital democracy through the lens of the post-industrial revolution. Presented at Barcamp Armenia 2009 in Yerevan.

1. Digital Democracy
1
Intros

2. Digital Democracy
Governments, economies, and revolutions in
the 21st century (and what to do about them)
1
Intros

3. Digital Democracy
Governments, economies, and revolutions in
the 21st century (and what to do about them)
2
Intros

4. Digital
Has the internet changed everything?
3
You all believe this, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be here.

5. Digital
Has the internet changed everything?
3
You all believe this, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be here.

6. Democracy
What does this mean anymore?
4
*all eligible members of the society (citizens) have equal access to power.
*soviet democracy - workers' councils called quot;sovietsquot;, consisting of worker-elected delegates, form organs of power possessing both legislative and
executive power. (arguably changed w/ Stalin)

7. Democracy
What does this mean anymore?
4
*all eligible members of the society (citizens) have equal access to power.
*soviet democracy - workers' councils called quot;sovietsquot;, consisting of worker-elected delegates, form organs of power possessing both legislative and
executive power. (arguably changed w/ Stalin)

8. Democracy
What does this mean anymore?
4
*all eligible members of the society (citizens) have equal access to power.
*soviet democracy - workers' councils called quot;sovietsquot;, consisting of worker-elected delegates, form organs of power possessing both legislative and
executive power. (arguably changed w/ Stalin)

9. Representative
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser
5
*rep=elected officials
*direct=initiative, referendum and recall. Referendums can include the ability to hold a binding referendum on whether a given law should be scrapped. This
effectively grants the populace a veto on government legislation. Recalls gives the people the right to remove from office elected officials before the end of their
term.
*is it possible to have mass communication with the government where people are more expressive of their ideas and government is more responsive?

10. Representative
Direct
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser
5
*rep=elected officials
*direct=initiative, referendum and recall. Referendums can include the ability to hold a binding referendum on whether a given law should be scrapped. This
effectively grants the populace a veto on government legislation. Recalls gives the people the right to remove from office elected officials before the end of their
term.
*is it possible to have mass communication with the government where people are more expressive of their ideas and government is more responsive?

11. Representative
Direct
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser
5
*rep=elected officials
*direct=initiative, referendum and recall. Referendums can include the ability to hold a binding referendum on whether a given law should be scrapped. This
effectively grants the populace a veto on government legislation. Recalls gives the people the right to remove from office elected officials before the end of their
term.
*is it possible to have mass communication with the government where people are more expressive of their ideas and government is more responsive?

12. Arc tic O cean
Greenland Sea
Beaufort Sea
Norwegian Sea
GREENLAND
(DENMARK)
ICELAND
NORWAY
U.S.A. SWEDEN
RUSSIA
FINLAND
Hudson Bay ESTONIA
Labrador Sea
Bering Sea LATVIA
DENMARK
Sea of Okhotsk
Gulf of Alaska RUSSIA LITHUANIA
U.K.
CANADA
BELARUS
IRELAND POLAND
NETHERLANDS
GERMANY
BELGIUM TRANSNISTRIA (MOLDOVA)
CZECH REP.
LUXEMBOURG SLOVAKIA UKRAINE
LIECHTENSTEIN
Nor th Atlantic O cean KAZAKHSTAN
MOLDOVA
SWITZERLAND AUSTRIA HUNGARY MONGOLIA
SLOVENIA ROMANIA
CHECHNYA (RUSSIA)
FRANCE ITALY CROATIA SERBIA
BOSNIA & HERZ. ABKHAZIA (GEORGIA)
MONTENEGRO BULGARIA
MONACO UZBEKISTAN
GEORGIA
ANDORRA SAN MARINO MACEDONIA KYRGYZSTAN
AZERBAIJAN
KOSOVO (SERBIA)
PORTUGAL ARMENIA
GREECE NORTH KOREA
TURKMENISTAN
SPAIN TURKEY
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TAJIKISTAN
ALBANIA NAGORNO
Nor th Paci c O cean NORTHERN KARABAKH
CYPRUS
MALTA SOUTH KOREA
CHINA
(ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN) KASHMIR (PAKISTAN)
SYRIA
CYPRUS
TUNISIA
AFGHANISTAN
LEBANON
KASHMIR (INDIA)
IRAQ
ISRAELI OCCUPIED/PAL. AUTHO.
East
MOROCCO IRAN JAPAN
ISRAEL
China Sea
TIBET (CHINA)
JORDAN
NEPAL
KUWAIT PAKISTAN
BHUTAN
ALGERIA
LIBYA BAHRAIN
Gulf of Mexico BAHAMAS EGYPT QATAR
MEXICO
Nor th Paci c O cean
WESTERN SAHARA
(MOROCCO)
U.A.E. TAIWAN
INDIA
PUERTO RICO (U.S.A.)
SAUDI ARABIA BURMA HONG KONG (CHINA)
CUBA LAOS
MAURITANIA BANGLADESH
JAMAICA OMAN
ST. KITTS & NEVIS
MALI
South China Sea
HAITI ANTIGUA & BARBUDA
BELIZE NIGER YEMEN
Bay of Bengal
DOM. REP.
HONDURAS CHAD
SENEGAL ERITREA THAILAND
Caribbean Sea DOMINICA VIETNAM
CAPE VERDE MARSHALL
ST. LUCIA
GUATEMALA SUDAN
THE GAMBIA
GRENADA PHILIPPINES ISLANDS
ST. VINCENT & GRENADINES CAMBODIA
EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA BURKINA
DJIBOUTI
BARBADOS FASO
GUINEA BISSAU GUINEA BENIN NIGERIA
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO SOMALILAND (SOMALIA)
COSTA RICA SRI LANKA MICRONESIA
ETHIOPIA
CÔTE GHANA
VENEZUELA GUYANA SIERRA LEONE CENTRAL AFRICAN
D’IVOIRE KIRIBATI
SURINAME
PANAMA NAURU
REPUBLIC
CAMEROON BRUNEI
FRENCH GUIANA (FRANCE) TOGO
LIBERIA
COLOMBIA MALDIVES PALAU
MALAYSIA
SOMALIA
EQUATORIAL GUINEA UGANDA
ECUADOR SAO TOME & PRINCIPE
KENYA TUVALU
SINGAPORE
GABON RWANDA
CONGO (KINSHASA) BURUNDI
CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)
PERU
INDONESIA PAPUA SOLOMON
NEW GUINEA
TANZANIA ISLANDS
SEYCHELLES
EAST TIMOR
Indian O cean
BRAZIL
COMOROS
ANGOLA
SAMOA
ZAMBIA VANUATU
MAURITIUS
BOLIVIA ZIMBABWE FIJI
MALAWI
NAMIBIA MADAGASCAR
MOZAMBIQUE
TONGA
BOTSWANA
PARAGUAY
S outh Atlantic O cean AUSTRALIA
CHILE
SWAZILAND
ARGENTINA
LESOTHO
SOUTH AFRICA
URUGUAY
S outh Pac i c O cean Tasman Sea
NEW ZEALAND
Survey Findings e Map of Freedom re ects the ndings of Freedom for open political competition, a climate of respect for rights are absent, and basic civil liberties are widely and
House’s Freedom in the World 2008 survey, which civil liberties, significant independent civic life, and systematically denied.
Freedom Status Country Breakdown Population Breakdown (in billions)
rates the level of political rights and civil liberties in independent media. Freedom House is an independent nongovernmental
FREE 90 (47%) 3.03 (46%)
193 countries and 15 related and disputed territories Partly Free countries are characterized by some organization that supports the expansion of freedom
during 2007. Based on these ratings, countries are restrictions on political rights and civil liberties, worldwide.
PARTLY FREE 60 (31%) 1.19 (18%)
divided into three categories: Free, Partly Free, and often in a context of corruption, weak rule of law,
NOT FREE 43 (22%) 2.39 (36%) Not Free.
www.freedomhouse.org
ethnic strife, or civil war.
A Free country is one where there is broad scope A Not Free country is one where basic political
TOTAL 193 (100%) 6.61 (100%)
Liberal vs. Illiberal
6
*illiberal - it has regular, free, fair, and competitive elections to fill the principal positions of power in the country, but it does not
qualify as Free in civil liberties and political rights
*currently seeing a rise in governments censoring online communications.

13. Changing Standards?
O B A MA
7
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing
technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that
understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external
network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

14. Vote Different
http://www.flickr.com/photos/callipygian/
8
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

15. Vote Different 5 Elements
Strategy:
1. Empowered volunteers
2. Social networks
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
http://www.flickr.com/photos/callipygian/
8
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

16. Vote Accountability
I elected you according to your issues,
will you actually keep your promises?
9
representative democracy: not necessarily accountable to voters

17. Government Accountability
10
Recovery.gov is collecting and aggregating info from all recipients of federal stimulus/bailout money. They will then be republishing it all in machine readable format. However, this introduces a layer of abstraction, and in strict terms, an opportunity for corruption. Transparency advocates push for access to data
at the source — in this case, directly from each individual recipient. This is, of course, not practical at the moment, and many new transparency-related services are doing the hard work of transforming the data to make it accessible (in a geoserver-ish kind of way).

18. Government Accountability
10
Recovery.gov is collecting and aggregating info from all recipients of federal stimulus/bailout money. They will then be republishing it all in machine readable format. However, this introduces a layer of abstraction, and in strict terms, an opportunity for corruption. Transparency advocates push for access to data
at the source — in this case, directly from each individual recipient. This is, of course, not practical at the moment, and many new transparency-related services are doing the hard work of transforming the data to make it accessible (in a geoserver-ish kind of way).

19. Citizen Accountability
11
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

20. Citizen Accountability
11
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

21. Citizen Accountability
11
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

22. Citizen Accountability
11
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

23. Transparency
“If I knew this, I could do that.”
If I knew government spending on social services,
I could create a map to inform resettled refugees of the best access to services for their community.
If I knew the leaders of community centers and churches in my neighborhood,
I could invite them to my coop board meeting to talk about building mutually beneficial
community relationships.
12
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

24. Solutions
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whiteafrican/2736565604/
What are your thoughts and ideas?
Do you see barriers or solutions?
Tweet #digidem
13
V. key finding 4 - Educational Opportunities & Hope for Future
1. The youth featured in this report have sought to overcome these obstacles in their quest for education, employment
and other options unavailable in their homeland. Those who are able to achieve further education are empowered by
their newfound knowledge and skills, which increase their capacity and motivation to work for their communities.
2. diversity of opinions, but they are connected in schools and online
3. tech is also connecting them to broader ideas around the world and support

25. Solutions
Digital Democracy
Democracy
• Empowerment of the
• Being heard
individual
• Minority rights
• Fall of hierarchies
• Accountability and
• Wider participation
transparency
• Democratization of
• Advocacy for change
information
• Access
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whiteafrican/2736565604/
What are your thoughts and ideas?
Do you see barriers or solutions?
Tweet #digidem
13
V. key finding 4 - Educational Opportunities & Hope for Future
1. The youth featured in this report have sought to overcome these obstacles in their quest for education, employment
and other options unavailable in their homeland. Those who are able to achieve further education are empowered by
their newfound knowledge and skills, which increase their capacity and motivation to work for their communities.
2. diversity of opinions, but they are connected in schools and online
3. tech is also connecting them to broader ideas around the world and support

26. Active Citizenry
Defined by citizens
14
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

27. Active Citizenry
Defined by citizens
14
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign’s grassroots strategy has ushered in a new era of utilizing technology to engage and empower masses to bring “change.” The strategy combined five core elements:
1. A web-empowered volunteer network (ie. iPhone application)
2. Social network presence (ie. Facebook)
3. Bloggers
4. YouTube viral videos
5. Micro-donations
Proving itself successful, this model of change is now being replicated. Yet there are few organizations that understand how to implement this kind of project. While most are currently trying to catch up, we have built
strong connections with our target population and explored their internal technological capacities, external network capabilities and their needs and interests in this type of work.

28. Digital Democracy
Governments, economies, and revolutions in
the 21st century (and what to do about them)
15
Intros

29. Industrial Revolution
Out with the old, in with the new
16
*steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the 19th century with the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation
*tech- Textile manufacture / Metallurgy/ Mining / Steam power / Chemicals / Machine tools / Gas lighting / Glass making / agriculture
*transport - Coastal sail Navigable rivers / Canals / Roads / Railways
*social effects - Factories and urbanisation / Child labour/ Housing / Luddites
**Shirkey - “Things like public libraries and museums, increasingly broad education for children, elected leaders--a lot of things we like--didn't happen until having all of those people together stopped seeming like a crisis and started
seeming like an asset. It wasn't until people started thinking of this as a vast civic surplus, one they could design for rather than just dissipate, that we started to get what we think of now as an industrial society. “

30. Post-Industrial Revolution
Will mass collaboration change
the way we operate?
17
**shirkey - cognitive surplus
*80-20 rule
Red Lake gold mine covers 55,000 acres of western Ontario / Goldcorp, which owns the mine / chief executive, Rob McEwen / 1999 gold drying up / they abandoned the industry's tradition of secrecy, making thousands of pages of
complex geological data available online, and offering $575,000 in prize money to those who could successfully identify where on the Red Lake property the undiscovered veins of gold might lie. Retired geologists, graduate students
and military officers around the world chipped in. They recommended 110 targets, half of which Goldcorp hadn't previously identified. Four-fifths of them turned out to contain gold. Since then, the company's value has rocketed from
$100m to $9bn,

31. NGOs & Civil Society
Updating community organizing & journalism
18
*Obama was a community organizer
*More bloggers jailed than journalists
*Socioscope NGO Armenia - how to communicate with the marzes (shirak, armavir, lori)?? remember! all technology is technology. having text messages come in and paper go out can be an effective way of creating community.
engage with the tools that exist and make sure that plans are cross-platform

32. Digital Democracy
Governments, economies, and revolutions in
the 21st century (and what to do about them)
19
Intros

33. Saffron Revolution www.uscampaignforburma.org
Mobile phones were used by monks and other citizen
journalists to send information to the outside world.
20
E - Let's start with the Saffron Revolution. In Sept. 2007, (explanation of protests). Demands. They were the largest protests the nation had seen since 1988. 20 years ago, the military killed over 3,000 protesters. This time, the loss of life was much less because of cell phones, which played a role in both reporting
and coordinating.
M - Closed society. On the reporting side, monks carried camera phones and they and other citizen journalists sent mobile images, video and voice information to the outside world.
E - Coordination also happened through mobiles, thanks to trusted networks between contacts inside and contact on border. example: joining protest 1km away and not knowing.

34. Twitter Revolution
Twitter organized a flashmob.
Being linked to other social networks staged a mass protest.
21
*results? activist charged and sought. violent backlash. growing fear of social protest in CIS.
*digital refugees
*anti-communist demonstrators set a bonfire on the steps of parliament, Tuesday April 7, 2009, in Chisinau, Moldova, during protests against the declared results of Sunday's parliamentary elections. Many thousands of demonstrators attempted to
storm the presidential palace and parliament in a violent demonstration against what they said were fraudulent elections. Associated Press/John McConnico
*quot;Help Twitter the Revolution in Moldovaquot; protest outside the UN - http://www.flickr.com/photos/creepysleepy/3429118253/

35. Zimbabwean
Elections
Mobile photography
and the daily news.
22
results? activist charged and sought. violent backlash. growing fear of social protest in
CIS.

36. Kenyan Elections
Mobile mapping and violence security.
23
results? activist charged and sought. violent backlash. growing fear of social protest in
CIS.

37. Practical Challenges
Citizens
Government
$ Corporations $
24
Censorship campaigns in UK, Australia, Canada give extra legitimacy to campaigns in China, Thailand, Vietnam
Free and open source. the values of democracy in the technology itself.
Pirated software - viruses, corporate hold on data
F/OSS - supporting community
Open government is the political doctrine which holds that the business of government and state administration should be opened at all levels to effective public scrutiny and oversight. In its broadest

38. D
2
Digital Democracy
Working with local partners to connect
people through new technologies that
encourage education, communication and
civic participation.
Mark Belinsky - MBelinsky@dtwo.org - @mbelinsky
DTWO.ORG
25
Intros