Why can't politicians, who impose so much control over our lives, hire a staff to maintain an exhaustive website that communicates the decisions they make and explains in extreme detail the reasons behind those decisions. Even include an enhanced public message board forum system with staff members to answer our questions. So many billions of dollars are wasted by the media guessing and second guessing the decisions made by politicians. So many people fail to bother learning about the thinking of their politicians because it is so difficult to find the real answer from second hand biased media sources.
Decisions based upon "Classified Information" can be explained by telling the public plainly such and such decision was made because of such and such classified information that exists within such and such document to be made unclassified at such and such date.
Granted, the idea probably needs to be refined like every other idea. But generally speaking, why wouldn't this be a good idea? What things can be done to improve it? Should there be a way to require politicians to do this?
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I think that this is a good idea, and some attempts have been made to do this. Unfortunately, I think this sort of open communication goes against the nature of politicians, but there may still be some ways to convince them to do this.
First: It's a good idea: As David suggested, it communication between officials and their constituents can be made more focused and more complete. An open, web-based system may even be more efficient than the traditional paper-based system, since all constituents would be aware of previous discussions so things wouldn't have to be repeated constantly.
Second: A city councilman in Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto, has attempted something similar, though it was intended to be a general discussion board of city policy, rather than a board targeted at a specific official. I can't find it right now, and it may have shut down.
Third: I think that many politicians will be turned off by the idea of an open discussion because they are more concerned with their image than with real communication. Sponsoring a discussion board would only bring attention to a communication medium that they can't control; however, as this sort of forums become more popular, a politician may find that they can bring it more under their control by sponsoring it.
Sometimes challengers try to get attention/support by giving their constituency more input. We can support these challengers and try to help them develop systems to engage the public. For example, I've provided some technical support to Mark Rauterkus in his attempts to develop a platform with a wiki system.
Finally, I think that a discussion board system would work best if it is sponsored by an organization that is semi-independent of the elected officials: for example a separate government organization or an established group like the League of Women Voters. The sponsors could provide a section for each official along with some moderators who would assure that all messages posted on the board are on-topic -- they deal with decisions faced by that official and are between the public and the official (or his staff), rather than being discussions among members of the public.
Yeah, I agree that this is a decent idea, but it's going to require a whole different breed of politicians. Politicians don't actually like to express opinions unless they must. Maybe we'll get some politicians that will take harness the ability to communicate effectively in type.I also wonder, do politicians already have websites that perform similar functions?
Some politicians do have websites that state the decisions they've made, but they certainly don't explain their reasoning in detail. Most of the sites I've seen are just pages upon pages of party rhetoric. As great as it sounds, I don't think many politicians would go along with this idea. A lot of politicians use the "classfied information" BS to make it seem like they know something we don't. Taking away that power would be like taking an infant's pacifier... they'd just cry about it until you give it back.
I like the idea of removing the media middle man. So much of what we "know" about politicians is the distorted view of a broadcasting company. More direct communication between politician and people is needed, and a website is a good place for that. Set it up like this website, except a politician would propose the idea. Open source politics!