An Idea Worth Pursuing

By Suhail Rastogi

Cyber-Constituency to me is a term given to a novel attempt aimed at using the Internet to create enthusiasm among the general public about the political system and its players. The idea goes way beyond infusing transparency into various facets of the political system like disclosing assets, education and income information of prospective politicians. I foresee the net as a potent tool for generating buzz about political events that shape our daily lives. Discussion about politics has simply fallen out of favor among media consumers. We aim at generating grassroots support using the internet, and at the same time ensure impartiality of views and opinions.

If I take clues from the blog and think of CC at another level…. it seems to be a good idea to shift the election procedures over the net. Log into a site and cast your vote or opine about the latest happenings. Two issues arise here…:
a.) Ownership – Private, Government, An Autonomous body like the election commission. A critical issue, given the sensitivity of information being handled
b.) Inclusion – Access to the Net differentiates the have nots from the haves.

25 Nov 2007