November 6th, 2008
The Connected President
There has been a lot of attention paid, of course, to Obama’s use of the Internet in fundraising and volunteer coordination. But now that he’s been elected, an even more intriguing possibility arises:
The connected president.
I received an email in Barack’s name Tuesday, just before he took the stage in Chicago. It was a short message with the usual language about making history and forging change. And then there was this line:
We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next.
If that’s true – if the Obama White House manages to maintain the same level of communication with citizens as it did with supporters (OK, a little less communication that that would be just fine!) – that will be yet another fundamental shift in governance, another step towards a truly 21st century politics.
Imagine that what the president’s staff sends isn’t spam but thoughtful explanations of policy initiatives. Imagine that there are real online processes for citizens to upload ideas and feedback. That could be a real change in the connection between the governed and governors.
But there are risks. For starters it could turn out to just be spam. For another thing, a tech-savvy president could use the net to put incredible pressure on legislators to do his bidding. And unscientific online polls could increase the negatives of governing by polls.
I have to think that the Obama Administration will take the Internet and online communication very seriously. And in this way, perhaps even more than the fact of his mixed race or his transformation of the electorate, I think he will lead the way to a new, citizen-connected politics.
I just think we don’t begin to understand the full ramifications of this change.
As a lawyer and technology writer, Richard Koman brings a unique perspective to the blog's intersection of law, government and technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
| 11/06/08
