Monthly Archives: September 2011

Phone hacking: Political corruption at the heart of the regime

Posted on September 26, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

What does the phone hacking scandal mean for the political regime and the role of privacy? From the perspective of political philosophy, the scandal raises the unspoken fear of political corruption at the heart of the regime. Political corruption occurs … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, privacy, public sector, transparency | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

We have seen 24hr tweeting, by public organisations, let’s have a 24hrs of video diary.

Posted on September 23, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

The great thing about blogs is that they make you think and the comments have great insights. From a response to a earlier blog post about a transparency contest, came the following idea.  The comment asked how Councils could get … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, local government, transparency | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The dark side of open data: politicized data.

Posted on September 21, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

As more data becomes available at a national and a local level, we have to be aware of the danger that it will become politicised.  The data will become politicised in two senses. First, all politics are local.  The more … Continue reading →

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Social media and the political regime: the rise of republicanism?

Posted on September 19, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

What effect does social media have on the political regime? Are some countries better at adapting social media than others because of their political culture? The argument, in brief, is that the UK’s parliamentary sovereignty creates an institutional limit on … Continue reading →

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Open Data political judo: Rahm Emanuel and Chicago politics

Posted on September 12, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

Open Data political judo: Rahm Emanuel and Chicago politics Chicago has now joined the list of major American cities publishing official data from its services on the web for the public to scrutinize and use. Embracing the transparency agenda is … Continue reading →

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Why not have an annual award for the best written policy paper in local government?

Posted on September 6, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

Is it time to have an award for the best written policy paper in local government?  The award would allow councils to showcase the writing talent of their officers and let the public know the good work that is being … Continue reading →

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Open data and transparency: are we buying a vacumn cleaner?

Posted on September 4, 2011 by lawrence serewicz

Consider the following story: When vacuum cleaners were just hitting the wider market in 1930s, a salesman visited a home in rural Texas. The new vacuum cleaner salesman knocked on the door on the first house of the street. A … Continue reading →

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