Iceland Crowd Sourcing- The First Constitution Via Internet

Iceland is still recovering from a relatively recent collapse of its economy and government. However something momentous has come out of this socio-economic turmoil. Unwilling to repeat the mistakes of the past, the Icelandic people have demanded direct input into the drafting of their new constitution. This has been achieved through various means such as randomly selected committees. However one of the main methods that have been utilised is provision of direct access to the constitution creation process via the internet. Social networking, twitter and Iceland's government websites are all being used by the public to discuss, vote on and formulate the constitution, a draft version of which will be subjected to referendum later this year. Some of the great ideas that have come out of this crowd sourcing involve increased government transparency and inclusion of Icelandic people in the political process. For example one of the clauses that will be included in the draft constitution, gives the right to citizens, that have the backing of a minimum of 10% of the population ( I assume via petition), to introduce new bills into parliament.

In my opinion its the perfect way to draft a constitution. This will be a government for the people by the people and I will be interested to see what the final product looks like. It gives me hope that if and when our governments fall on their ass that something similar might happen here.

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