Wiki Government: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful

247 Pages·2010·1.152 MB·English

by  Beth Simone Noveck

Beth Simone Noveck
GOVERNMENT
HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN MAKE
GOVERNMENT BETTER,
DEMOCRACY STRONGER, AND
CITIZENS MORE POWERFUL
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WIKI
GOVERNMENT
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WIKI
GOVERNMENT
How Technology Can
Make Government Better,
Democracy Stronger, and
Citizens More Powerful
Beth Simone Noveck
brookings institution press
Washington, D.C.
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Copyright © 2009
Beth Simone Noveck
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing
from the Brookings Institution Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
Noveck, Beth Simone.
Wiki government : how technology can make government better, democracy
stronger, and citizens more powerful / Beth Simone Noveck.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: “In explaining how to enhance political institutions with the
power of networks, examines the Peer-to-Patent project. Discusses its design
challenges faced in creating software to distill online collaboration into useful
expertise. Explains how law, policy, and technology can be revamped to help
government work in more open, participatory ways”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-8157-0275-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Political participation—Technological innovations—United States.
2. Wikis (Computer science)—Political aspects—United States. 3. Patent
practice—Technological innovations—United States—Case studies. 4. United
States—Politics and government—21st century. I. Title.
JK1764.N68 2009
320.9730285'675—dc22 2009000796
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
The paper used in this publication meets minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials: ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Typeset in Sabon
Composition by Cynthia Stock
Silver Spring, Maryland
Printed by R. R. Donnelley
Harrisonburg, Virginia
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For my digital mother,
Doris Bettauer Noveck
and in memory of my analog father,
Simon Noveck
who brought the love of technology and the
faith in democracy together
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Contents
Preface
xi
Acknowledgments
xvii
part one
Collaborative Democracy and
the Changing Nature of Expertise
chapter one
Peer-to-Patent: A Modest Proposal
3
The Modest Proposal Takes Off 7
Implications for the Future: From Wikipedia to Wikilaw 12
The Core Idea 15
Overview of the Book 21
chapter two
The Single Point of Failure 25
The Closed Model of Decisionmaking 25
New Technologies and Civic Life 29
Participatory Democratic Theory in the Age of Networks 35
Challenges for Collaborative Democracy 40
vii
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viii Contents
part two
Peer-to-Patent and the Patent Challenge
chapter three
Patents and the Information Deficit
47
The Why of Patents 49
Challenges of Patent Examination 51
Patent Examination Today 59
Consequences: The Crab Is Traveling Backward 64
What’s at Stake? 67
chapter four
Designing for Collaborative Democracy
70
Visual Deliberation 71
How Peer-to-Patent Works 73
Reflecting the Work of the Group Back to Itself 80
Granularity, Groups, and Reputation 82
Getting Everyone on Board 90
The Design Process 95
Early Results 99
part three
Thinking in Wiki
chapter five
Social Life of Information
107
Beyond Transparency 108
Beyond Crowdsourcing 110
Bringing Experts and Expertise Together 117
Space, Place, Groups, and Information 118
Linking Information and Action 120
Information Transparency 121
Building toward Collaboration 126
chapter six
History of Citizen Participation
128
Failure of Public Consultation 129
Government Access to Information 133
The Internet Age and Participatory Practices 138
Imagine the Alternative: Poking Our Way to Participation 142
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Contents ix
chapter seven
Citizen Participation in a Collaborative Democracy 146
Beyond Peer-to-Patent: Improving Consultation 148
Beyond Notice and Comment 154
Organizing for Innovation 161
The Networked CTO 165
Collaborative Governance iLabs 166
chapter eight
Lessons Learned
170
Ask the Right Questions 172
Ask the Right People 174
Design the Process for the Desired End 175
Design for Groups, Not Individuals 178
Use the Screen to Show the Group Back to Itself 179
Divide Work into Roles and Tasks 179
Harness the Power of Reputation 180
Make Policies, Not Websites 181
Pilot New Ideas 182
Focus on Outcomes, Not Inputs 183
The Bigger Picture: Redesigning Governance 184
East Coast Code and West Coast Code 185
Power and Collaborative Democracy 189
Notes
191
Index
219