Beyond "The Crisis in Civics"

Beyond “The Crisis in Civics”

Ethan ZuckermanMIT Center for Civic Media

(@CivicMIT, @ethanz)

“Lunch Scholars”Austin Oberbillig and Evan Ricks

Olympia High SchoolJanuary 2012

Jay Leno“Jaywalking”

cartoon by Drew Dee

112th Congress10% approval

61 bills passedof 3914 proposed

19 20 21

image from Wikimedia Commons

19

20

visualization by National Journal

21

19 20 21

thin

thick

symbolic impactful

thin

thick

symbolic impactful

slactivismquadrant

thin

thick

symbolic impactful

thin

thick

symbolic impactful

thin

thick

symbolic impactful

photo from WNYC.org

thin

thick

symbolic impactful

smallscale

largescale

from symbolic to impactful

5000 kyat simcardcampaign(Myanmar)

rynda.org(Russia)

kiirti.org(India)

art from William Dwight Whitney, 1911

lever: legislativephoto credit: Joel Page

associated presslever: authority

lever: public opinion

lever: DIY infrastructures

tactic: petitiontheories of change: legislative, authority

tactic: DDoStheories of change: authority, public opinion

legislative

authority

public opinion

DIY

petition sit-in marchsocial media celebrity ...

X

legislative

authority

public opinion

DIY

petition sit-in march media celebrity ...

I CAN HAS PROTEST?achievable

testable

trackable

plausible?

thin thick

Interest-driven (YOUMedia Chicago)

thin thick

connecting change with existing passions

watch thevideo

spread thevideo

put up posters

organizeteams

joinleadership

ladder of engagement

increasing engagement

deepening knowledge

watch thevideo

learn aboutLRA

question IC

work withUgandan

orgs

joinmovementleadership

ladder of engagement

small scale large scale

descriptive

Controversy  MapperWith  Yochai  Benkler,Hal  Roberts  and  team

evaluative

normative

if we want civic participationthat is thick, impactful and scaleable:

if we want civic participationthat is thick, impactful and scaleable:get beyond politics vs. activism, and focus on agency

if we want civic participationthat is thick, impactful and scaleable:get beyond politics vs. activism, and focus on agencyunderstand levers as well as developing new tactics

if we want civic participationthat is thick, impactful and scaleable:get beyond politics vs. activism, and focus on agencyunderstand levers as well as developing new tacticsdeepen foundations of understandingwhile climbing the ladder of engagement

if we want civic participationthat is thick, impactful and scaleable:get beyond politics vs. activism, and focus on agencyunderstand levers as well as developing new tacticsdeepen foundations of understandingwhile climbing the ladder of engagementunderstand that thick participation at scale means devolving control

thanks for listening@ethanz

ethanz@mit.edu