http://lowercased.org/p real democracy for New York Sat, 14 Aug 2010 19:31:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy includes a several relevant panels and workshops. http://lowercased.org/p/?p=203 Brother Noel is moderating what promises to be an interesting talk, as part of the Re:Group: Beyond Models of Consensus exhibition. http://lowercased.org/p/?p=202 In March the Assembly once again voted to stop mayors' being able to knock charter amendments off the ballot.  The matter now idles, as it has in the past, in the hands of the Cities Committee.  If you happen to live in one of its member's districts, take a minute ... http://lowercased.org/p/?p=195 As far as I can tell, by removing spending limits by outside groups in candidate elections today's crummy Supreme Court decision practically obliterated the already bogus argument that direct democracy might allow corporations more influence.  At least in direct democracy they have to convince the public of something more than ... http://lowercased.org/p/?p=200 There's a test case afoot in California for signing a petition to qualify a ballot measure electronically.  In this case, since California law requires petitions be filled out in one's own hand, the measure in question is using a touchscreen technology to ease collection of actual signatures, which goes a ... http://lowercased.org/p/?p=199 I've been meaning to put together a bibliography for those interested.  In the meantime, here's a new book about online deliberation, available for free as a pdf, that Tiago Peixoto tipped us off to via his participatory budgeting facebook group. http://lowercased.org/p/?p=198 Sometime in late 2010 or early 2011 we'll begin circulating petitions!  Until then we'll be focusing on crafting the proposed amendments (input welcome). In the meantime, sign up on the bottom right, and think of three NYC voters you can get a signature from, each solid enough to go on to ... http://lowercased.org/p/?p=194 Well, to no one's surprise, it does not look as though NYCCAN will be getting on the ballot.  Worth noting though is that not among the things found invalid in their petition was that some of their signatures were from before the previous general election.  According to their website's FAQ, Each ... http://lowercased.org/p/?p=192 I'll be making an informal presentation soliciting feedback at this fine Meetup group's next get-together. http://lowercased.org/p/?p=191 We're getting together for a planning talk on Monday at 8pm.  Just get in touch if you'd like to join. http://lowercased.org/p/?p=190