Open source political campaign
Encyclopedia
Open-source political campaigns, open-source politics, or Politics 2.0, is the idea that social networking and e-participation
technologies will revolutionize our ability to follow, support, and influence political campaigns. Netroots
evangelists and web consultants predict a wave of popular democracy
as fundraisers meet on MySpace
, YouTubers crank out attack ads, bloggers do opposition research
, and cell-phone-activated flash mobs hold miniconventions in Second Life
.
Typically these terms describe short-term limited-life efforts to achieve a specific goal. Longer term projects involving embedded institutions (of journalism, parties, government itself) are more often called "open-source governance
" projects. All open politics share some very basic assumptions however including the belief that online deliberation
can improve decisions.
campaign and of Vermont Governor Howard Dean
both claimed that their campaigns represented the ideals of "open-source politics." The term was meant as a reference to open-source software
such a Linux
, which is designed to allow users to alter its code to make improvements. The idea was that new technologies would allow similar participation and the attendant benefits in the political realm. The story omitted the fact that Dean's campaign had actually begun to employ these tools only by the initiative of the Meetup.com
bot, a simple string-matching algorithm that began to schedule meetings "about Howard Dean" when the number of people listing this string in their interests hit a critical mass.
The term was further refined in its current usage by a story in The Nation
by Micah Sifry which appeared days after the 2004 election. Sifry wrote that open-source politics means "opening up participation in planning and implementation to the community, letting competing actors evaluate the value of your plans and actions, being able to shift resources away from bad plans and bad planners and toward better ones, and expecting more of participants in return. It would mean moving away from egocentric organizations and toward network-centric organizing." Since Sifry's article, the term has appeared on numerous blogs and print articles.
Since the 2004 United States elections
, the internet has become much more participatory and interactive with the popularization of Web 2.0
technologies such as Myspace
, YouTube
, Second Life
and Wikipedia
. This participation, the idea goes, lends new currency to the notion that these technologies can be employed to allow citizens to "reprogram" politics. One example is the way that the Macaca video spread virally through the internet on YouTube and contributed to the electoral defeat of Sen. George Allen
of Virginia during the 2006 U.S. midterm elections. The old "source code" of politics allowed candidates to get away with making off-the-cuff comments if journalists did not pick up on them, but services such as YouTube have changed that, and now politicians must be more careful not to say things that will come back to haunt them. In short, the idea is that citizen can rewrite the old codes of politics by using these new technologies to promote change. The term "open-source politics" was heavily employed in this context in the July/August 2007 issue of the magazine Mother Jones
, where the definition appeared in a format that was modeled on a Wikipedia
article.
," refers to overhauling or replacing existing government institutions in order to allow direct citizen input into the government. The narrower term "open politics" refers to a specific theory derived from those of Bernard Crick
and others advocating development of political virtues, and strict adherence to human rights law.
By contrast, open-source politics is a term favored by technologists, and is often used interchangeably with the term "politics 2.0." Politics 2.0 has been covered by leading sites Mother Jones
, the BBC
, GigaOM
, TechCrunch
and techPresident
, among others.
, and the Center for Politics, Democracy and the Internet.
Internet entrepreneur Jimmy Wales
was asked by Mother Jones
about his thoughts on the potential impact of open-source politics on old models of political campaigning such as polling and TV attack ads. He said this:
of Americans for Tax Reform. Others include Nicholas Lemann
, Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism, who has said open-source politics may eventually be co-opted by political parties.
E-participation
e-participation is the generally accepted term referring to "ICT-supported participation in processes involved in government and governance". Processes may concern administration, service delivery, decision making and policy making...
technologies will revolutionize our ability to follow, support, and influence political campaigns. Netroots
Netroots
Netroots is a term coined in 2002 by Jerome Armstrong to describe political activism organized through blogs and other online media, including wikis and social network services. The word is a portmanteau of Internet and grassroots, reflecting the technological innovations that set netroots...
evangelists and web consultants predict a wave of popular democracy
Popular democracy
Popular democracy is a notion of direct democracy based on referendums and other devices of empowerment and concretization of popular will. The concept evolved out of the political philosophy of Populism, as a fully democratic version of this popular empowerment ideology, but since it has become...
as fundraisers meet on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, YouTubers crank out attack ads, bloggers do opposition research
Opposition research
Opposition research is:# The term used to classify and describe efforts of supporters or paid consultants of a political candidate to legally investigate the biographical, legal or criminal, medical, educational, financial, public and private administrative and or voting records of the opposing...
, and cell-phone-activated flash mobs hold miniconventions in Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
.
Typically these terms describe short-term limited-life efforts to achieve a specific goal. Longer term projects involving embedded institutions (of journalism, parties, government itself) are more often called "open-source governance
Open source governance
Open-source governance is a political philosophy which advocates the application of the philosophies of the open-source and open-content movements to democratic principles in order to enable any interested citizen to add to the creation of policy, as with a wiki document. Legislation is...
" projects. All open politics share some very basic assumptions however including the belief that online deliberation
Online deliberation
Online deliberation is a term associated with an emerging body of practice, research, and software dedicated to fostering serious, purposive discussion over the Internet...
can improve decisions.
Origins of the term
In print, open-source politics was first used by political operatives in the lead-up to the 2004 presidential elections. It is unclear exactly who coined the phrase, but the earliest reference to the term in major media was a September 5, 2003 story in Salon.com in which supporters of the Draft ClarkWesley Clark
Wesley Kanne Clark, Sr., is a retired general of the United States Army. Graduating as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and later graduated from the...
campaign and of Vermont Governor Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
both claimed that their campaigns represented the ideals of "open-source politics." The term was meant as a reference to open-source software
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
such a Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, which is designed to allow users to alter its code to make improvements. The idea was that new technologies would allow similar participation and the attendant benefits in the political realm. The story omitted the fact that Dean's campaign had actually begun to employ these tools only by the initiative of the Meetup.com
Meetup.com
Meetup is an online social networking portal that facilitates offline group meetings in various localities around the world. Meetup allows members to find and join groups unified by a common interest, such as politics, books, games, movies, health, pets, careers or hobbies...
bot, a simple string-matching algorithm that began to schedule meetings "about Howard Dean" when the number of people listing this string in their interests hit a critical mass.
The term was further refined in its current usage by a story in The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
by Micah Sifry which appeared days after the 2004 election. Sifry wrote that open-source politics means "opening up participation in planning and implementation to the community, letting competing actors evaluate the value of your plans and actions, being able to shift resources away from bad plans and bad planners and toward better ones, and expecting more of participants in return. It would mean moving away from egocentric organizations and toward network-centric organizing." Since Sifry's article, the term has appeared on numerous blogs and print articles.
Since the 2004 United States elections
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
, the internet has become much more participatory and interactive with the popularization of Web 2.0
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...
technologies such as Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
and Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
. This participation, the idea goes, lends new currency to the notion that these technologies can be employed to allow citizens to "reprogram" politics. One example is the way that the Macaca video spread virally through the internet on YouTube and contributed to the electoral defeat of Sen. George Allen
George Allen (U.S. politician)
George Felix Allen is a former United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the son of former NFL head coach George Allen. Allen served Virginia in the state legislature, as the 67th Governor, and in both bodies of the U.S. Congress, winning election to the Senate in 2000...
of Virginia during the 2006 U.S. midterm elections. The old "source code" of politics allowed candidates to get away with making off-the-cuff comments if journalists did not pick up on them, but services such as YouTube have changed that, and now politicians must be more careful not to say things that will come back to haunt them. In short, the idea is that citizen can rewrite the old codes of politics by using these new technologies to promote change. The term "open-source politics" was heavily employed in this context in the July/August 2007 issue of the magazine Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
, where the definition appeared in a format that was modeled on a Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
article.
Similar terms
A similar term, "open-source governanceOpen source governance
Open-source governance is a political philosophy which advocates the application of the philosophies of the open-source and open-content movements to democratic principles in order to enable any interested citizen to add to the creation of policy, as with a wiki document. Legislation is...
," refers to overhauling or replacing existing government institutions in order to allow direct citizen input into the government. The narrower term "open politics" refers to a specific theory derived from those of Bernard Crick
Bernard Crick
Sir Bernard Rowland Crick was a British political theorist and democratic socialist whose views were often summarised as "politics is ethics done in public"...
and others advocating development of political virtues, and strict adherence to human rights law.
By contrast, open-source politics is a term favored by technologists, and is often used interchangeably with the term "politics 2.0." Politics 2.0 has been covered by leading sites Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, GigaOM
GigaOM
GigaOM is a Web 2.0 blog started by Om Malik and published by Giga Omni Media, Inc. in San Francisco, California. According to the company website it has a monthly global audience of 500,000. It is among the top 50 blogs worldwide by Technorati Rank, and is listed on CNet's Blog 100 list...
, TechCrunch
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is a web publication that offers technology news and analysis, as well as profiling of startup companies, products, and websites. It was founded by Michael Arrington in 2005, and was first published on June 11, 2005....
and techPresident
Techpresident
techPresident is a nonpartisan political website founded by Andrew Rasiej and Micah Sifry which tracks how the internet is impacting U.S. political campaigns. It was created in 2007 to monitor the 2008 United States presidential election...
, among others.
Objections to and usage of the term
Some people, especially from the software engineering industry, dislike the term open-source politics because they feel that the technologies that the term references are not open source. For example, YouTube and MySpace do not operate under an open-source licence. Proponents of the term argue that "open-source politics" is a preferable term to "open politics" because the term "open source" is an artful way to reference the idea that it is technology that is making politics more participatory. Opponents are concerned is that use of the term "open source" in this context causes unnecessary confusion, and it has been suggested that the term "open politics" or politics 2.0 be used instead.Impact of open-source politics, optimists
Those who believe that open-source politics will have a major impact on elections and government include many former staffers of Gov. Howard Dean's political campaign, many political bloggers, and members of the New Politics Institute, the Personal Democracy ForumPersonal Democracy Forum
Personal Democracy Forum is a website and annual conference that follows how the internet is changing politics, governance, and advocacy founded by Andrew Rasiej and co-Founder Micah Sifry.- Website :...
, and the Center for Politics, Democracy and the Internet.
Internet entrepreneur Jimmy Wales
Jimmy Wales
Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as a co-founder and promoter of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedia and the Wikia company....
was asked by Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
about his thoughts on the potential impact of open-source politics on old models of political campaigning such as polling and TV attack ads. He said this:
Hopefully, you start to see a little bit of diminished effectiveness when people can talk back to attack ads. In the past, when you'd see a vicious attack ad, you might find it distasteful, but you might also wonder if that person did that horrible thing. Online, you begin to see some of those things start to unravel, and people responding and saying, "Yeah, this is an attack ad, and this is what really happened." Then you get a more interesting dialogue around that.
A lot of the polling that goes on is push polling, in that the questions being asked are being framed to get answers they want. Those kinds of things get harder to sustain when you have a large body of people who can push back and put out an alternative point of view.
Impact of open-source politics, skeptics
Some people discount the potential impacts. Skeptics include many people on the American political right, among them the lobbyist Grover NorquistGrover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...
of Americans for Tax Reform. Others include Nicholas Lemann
Nicholas Lemann
Nicholas Berthelot Lemann is dean and Henry R. Luce professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City.Lemann is from New Orleans and he graduated from Harvard University in 1976, but has never attended a school of journalism. He is a journalist, editor, and author...
, Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism, who has said open-source politics may eventually be co-opted by political parties.
External links
- Open Democratic, Internal system to run a political party democratically and with transparency.
- Open Source Party Project
- MondoGloboMondoGloboMondoGlobo was a website and Internet network that hosts blogs, podcasts and forums. It was a community of anti-authoritarian citizens, each one with a blog....
: Open-source party proposal and discussion - Extreme Democracy