DEMOS

• Internet Filtration: Coming to a Computer Near You? Last week I attended the release of a global survey of internet filtering, conducted by the OpenNet Initiative and hosted by the Oxford Internet Institute. The results indicate that internet filtering is growing "in scope, scale, and sophistication." In the 41 countries evidence was collected in, some level of Internet filtering was detected in 25.  continue reading Posted by Tessa Simonds on 29th May 2007
• Informing or influencing?

  Really interesting post from Danny Finkelstein, over on the Times' Comment Central blog, which sums up the dilemmas we’ll be looking at our new project on ‘The Politics of Behaviour’.

   

  Commenting on the news that the government is changing the guidance on drinking whilst pregnant – despite no new medical evidence – in order to send “a strong signal” to women currently exceeding the current recommended limit

  continue reading Posted by Duncan O'Leary on 25th May 2007
• Choice words

  I’ve been watching the debate about schooling/grammar schools/academies/choice with interest over the last week or so. Leaving aside the politics of it all, i think there are a few questions that need to be answered on all sides:

  continue reading Posted by Duncan O'Leary on 25th May 2007
• dreams and nightmares So, The Dreaming City: Glasgow 2020 and the Power of Mass Imagination is launched today in the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. The book reflects an 18 month long project to imagine the future of Glasgow through the creativity and imagination of its people. Interpretations of press releases and quotes etc have left Glasgow City Council's nose slightly out of joint which is a shame, as they have supported a risky and innovative project from the outset - the first attempt to imagine the future of a... continue reading Posted by Charlie Tims on 23rd May 2007 Comments (1)
• Collaborative citizenship Every programme of political reform has an implicit vision of who its citizens are, so what's ours? Nye Bevan had the deserving poor, Thatcher had the homeowning democracy, but Labour has yet to develop a clear story of who its citizens are. So they're sometimes consumers, sometimes member of communities, sometimes people with responsibilities to the state and sometimes participants in delivering public goals.We need to make some sense of this mess of approaches, if only because different... continue reading 22nd May 2007 Comments (3)
• Cameron vs Brown Listening to David Cameron on the radio this morning as he explained why Grammar Schools are a bad idea (whilst simultaneously trying to explain why his shadow cabinet is full of old Etonians) it became clear to me what some of the opportunities and threats are for both sides in the battle between Cameron and Brown. The main threat for Cameron (and the opportunity for Brown) is that Cameron is trying to find a language that is sufficiently different from the Old Conservatives to have appeal... continue reading Posted by Grahame Broadbelt on 22nd May 2007 Comments (2)
• Mashup politics - when everyday democracy meets the web The personal democracy forum conference (and unconference) are over until 2008. Two main things struck me. First, the younger generation (as Danah Boyd pointed out) don't think of the internet as 'not real' - it is an indivisible part of their social lives. It follows that the virtual/physical divide won't be as obvious in the next elections either. The Pew survey on politics and the internet shows how quickly things are changing. In 2006, 23% of people who are using the internet for politics... continue reading Posted by Molly Webb on 21st May 2007 in Cool Tools for Government For Your Information
• Hopeful Belfast

  I had the pleasure of going to Belfast last week for Thursday and Friday. What a great place to go at the moment. I can’t remember going anywhere with such a sense of optimism. I only met a small number of people but the impression i got was a city on the rise – people realistic but hopeful that they won’t go back to the conflicts of the past, lots of regeneration, a sense that the economy is on the up and a belief that people's lives are about to improve.
  

  
  I came back feeling a lot better about the world – and more convinced than ever about power of politics, for good or ill. If you can find an excuse to go over there at the moment i'd recommend a visit.

  continue reading Posted by Duncan O'Leary on 21st May 2007
• NYC and 'personal democracy' Peter Bradwell, Niamh Gallagher and I are representing Demos at the Personal Democracy Forum conference in New York. Larry Lessig opened the day, challenging us to think about how to give people ownership of their content, and what that means for politics. Tom Friedman and Eric Schmidt were the keynote conversation, talking about living in a flat googlised world, and Yochai Benkler told us about the democratisation of information production. Most of the discussion has been about the 2008... continue reading Posted by Molly Webb on 18th May 2007 in For Your Information
• From Siena to State Britain I spoke at a debate for Resonance Fm at the Pumphouse Gallery last night.  Here's a text of what I said. continue reading Posted by Samuel Jones on 18th May 2007

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