When the Framers met in Philadelphia in 1787, they bravely conjured a new form of self-government. But they couldn’t have imagined a mass society with instantaneous, many-to-many communications or many of the other innovations of modernity. Imagine that you have to power to redesign American democracy for the Internet Age. What would you do?
This anthology offers forty-four essays, some large and sweeping, others more specific, that respond to this challenge. They are infused with the hopes of reenergizing, reorganizing, and reorienting our government for the Internet Age.
“Digital citizens should not be afraid to know or to act, but we need a leadership willing to listen and participate–not on platforms or pedestals, but on egalitarian footing with their constituents. ”
–Julie Barko ,
Germany
Germany
“Therefore, more than anything we will try to build the ethic of true leadership not only into the American political system, but into the American spirit.”
–Zack Exley
“Governments today still metaphorically operate with the quill pen, and in some instances, do so almost literally.”
–Newt Gingrich
“Large-scale collaboration, among widely-dispersed populations, is manageable, sustainable, and effective.”
–Yochai Benkler
“Our corrupt system of distant, unaccountable representative democracy is going to get an overhaul, whether the representatives like it or not.”
–Andrew Rasiej