Redefining the Role of Citizen in a Gov 2.0 World

John Kamensky's posting Redefining the Role of Citizen in a Gov 2.0 World is a good summary of the new citizen ideas coming out of the various open government efforts these last few years. Read the whole post. The headlines are

"A prominent role these days is engaging citizens in oversight and accountability. "

"we can’t become a nation of fault finders"

"Increased involvement in dialogue. This is where conversations are back and forth, and where both sides learn."

"Being better informed about issues. This is where citizens can gain a broader understanding of the implications and tradeoffs in making big decisions, or even local decisions."

"Providing ideas and solutions. Sometimes people with different perspectives can solve problems that the experts have a hard time with."

"Being empowered by information to solving their own problems. Too often, complexity creates a need for “middle men” such as tax advisors, lobbyists, and attorneys. Reducing complexity, or providing information more openly or using “plain language” to describe things can make a huge difference."

"Becoming involved in co-delivering public services."

"Becoming engaged in framing public decisions. In some communities, such as Des Moines, IA, citizens became engaged in measuring the performance of city services and then involved in helping set city budgeting priorities."