Presentation for the Open Government Partnership regional meeting in Santiago, Chile, January 2013. The Open Government Partnership is a new multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. In the spirit of multi-stakeholder collaboration, OGP is overseen by a steering committee of governments and civil society organizations.

1. n
ssociatio
Transparency A
21st Century Civil Society:
Implications for Open Government
Mary Joyce
Latin America Regional Outreach Meeting
Open Government Partnership
January 10, 2013 | Santiago, Chile

2. This presentation
is based on 3 propositions
image: Flickr/Victor1558

3. ①
open government is a partnership between
Government and Civil Society
image: Flickr/Victor1558

4. Civil society is undergoing
transformations. ②
image: Flickr/Victor1558

5. Government will
benefit from better
③ understanding
those transformations.
image: Flickr/Victor1558

6. 2 Questions:
1) What will civil society look like in the digital age?
2) How will these changes affect open government?
image: Flickr/Victor1558

7. Historic Civil Society
“bricks and mortar”
Transparency Association
image: Flickr/cdsessum

8. Historic Civil Society
Member Mobilization Model
Transparency Association
Staff
Formal Organization Members
image: Flickr/cdsessum

9. Historic Civil Society
Collaboration
in the Member Mobilization Model
Transparency Association
Governance Association
image: Flickr/cdsessum

10. Historic Civil Society
Member Funding Model
Transparency Association
Staff
Formal Organization Members
Government
image: Flickr/cdsessum

11. Digital technology challenges
both of these models.
image: Flickr/Victor1558

12. Reductions in Group Affiliation
①
image: Flickr/prayitno

13. images: Pew Research Center, The Australian, House of Commons Library, The Asian-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus

14. Transformations in Civil Society
Reductions in Group Affiliation
Transparency Association
image: Flickr/cdsessum

15. Fewer Donations
②
image: Flickr/xornalcerto

16. Transformations in Civil Society
Fewer Donations
Transparency Association
Source: Karpf, D. (2012) The Moveon Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political Advocacy
image: Flickr/cdsessum

17. While old civil society organizations have less
members and less money,
new types of organizations are emerging.
image: Flickr/Victor1558

18. Earthquake hits
Sichuan Province, China
Monday, 2:28pm
May12th, 2008
image: Flickr/China Photos/Getty Images

19. Because of corruption,
school buildings did
not meet safety codes
and thousands of
children died.
Yet the government
refused to
acknowledge
their deaths.
image: Shiho Fukada/http://www.shihofukada.com

20. Using his blog, artist Ai Weiwei organizes a team of volunteers to
travel to Sichuan and collect the names of the children who died.
image: unknown source

21. Using the Internet, the network of volunteers worked for 1 year.
They collected 5,385 names and forced the Chinese government
to publicly report the death toll.
Then the organization ended.
image: Ai Weiwei

22. Civil society used to look like this:
Transparency Association
Staff
Formal Organization Members
image: Flickr/cdsessum

23. Now it also looks like this:
Transparency Association
Staff
Formal Organization Members
image: Flickr/cdsessum

24. Now it also looks like this:
Transparency Association
Staff
Formal Organization Members
No single physical location.
Small staff or no staff.
image: Flickr/cdsessum

25. What are the main characteristics of
21st century civil society?
1) Digital
2) Fast
3) Decentralized
4) Participatory
image: Flickr/Victor1558 5) Cheap

26. ① Digital: the new civil society infrastructure
image: Flickr/sjcockell

27. The connective infrastructure of civil society
was once the formal ONG.
Transparency Association

28. The connective infrastructure of civil society
was once the formal ONG.
Transparency Association
Now that infrastructure is also being
provided by social media.
Source: Bennett W. L., and Segerberg, A., (2012) “The Logic of Connective Action,” Information, Communication & Society

29. They don’t need to ONG to connect them.
They can connect with each other directly.
image: Flickr/Victor1558

30. Fast
Quic
ker t
quick o mo
er to bilize
dispe ,
r se
②

31. #YoSoy132:
multi-city protests
mobilized in 8 days
image: Wikipedia

32. “In the past, it might have taken 10 days for an
official involved in a sex scandal to lose his job.
This time he was gone in 66 hours.”
- Journalist Zhu Ruifeng
on the effect of viral videos, photos, and online rumors on on the firing of Lei Zhengfu
Source: Jacobs, A (Dec. 26, 2012) “Chinese Officials Find Misbehavior New Carries Cost,” The New York Times
image: Flickr/alaina.buzas

33. The average age of the organizations that assisted with the 15M
protests was 3 years, many times less than organizations responsible
for previous mass mobilizations (10-40 years).
Source: Anduiza E., Christancho, C., and Sabuecho J. (2011) “the political protests on the outraged in Spain: what’s new?’
image: Flickr/furlin

34. Mobilizations are faster.
Organizations are younger.
image: Flickr/Victor1558

35. Decentralized
Participants are less
geographically
③ concentrated.
image: Flickr/ArmandoH2O

36. Online platforms aggregate action across geographies.

37. Less Activism is Local
In a recent study of over 800 digital activism cases from 80 countries, only 8% of cases were purely local,
with 92% eventually gained national or international attention and participation.
Source: Global Digital Activism Data Set, Digital Activism Research Project at the University of Washington (www.digital-activism.org)
8%
Local
92%
National or
International
image: Mary Joyce

38. Action occurs wherever participants are located,
rather than location dictating the possibility of
participation. New York
Atlanta
Berlin
Paris
Vancouver
image: Flickr/foxtongue, Björn Kietzmann, looking4poetry,
Pazarm, Hiloxy, harrystaab

39. ④ Participatory
Campaigns without
ownership, rigid leadership,
or barriers to joining
image: Flickr/xavi tellada

40. Participatory Civil Society
•easily personalized ideas and action frames
• allow people to participate on their own terms
• sharing campaigning values with peers via memes and
slogans and targeting demands to decision-makers
Source: Bennett W. L., and Segerberg, A., (2012) “The
Logic of Connective Action,” Information, Communication
& Society

41. self-organized
in 900
global cities
image: Flickr/bogieharmond

42. Successful ONG allow don’t command, they
suggest and inspire

43. ⑤ Cheap
Infrastructure of
information, collaboration,
and mobilization is
near-free
image: Flickr/Elvert Barnes

44. Possibility of delinking money
and power
image: Flickr/Elvert Barnes

45. Let’s review...
image: Flickr/Victor1558

46. Historic Civil Society
Formal Organization with Members
and Unaffiliated Citizens
Transparency Association
image: Flickr/cdsessum

47. 21st Century Civil Society
Less Formal Membership
Transparency Association
image: Flickr/cdsessum

48. 21st Century Civil Society
Fast, Large-Scale Mobilization by Formal Organizations
Transparency Association
Fewer members,
greater capacity for mobilization
image: Flickr/cdsessum

49. 21st Century Civil Society
Fast, Large-Scale Mobilization without Organizations
Transparency Association
Larger but less durable
associations
image: Flickr/cdsessum

50. What are the implications
for open government?
image: Flickr/Victor1558

51. ①
Lack of clear or durable
counter-parties.
tion
Associa
rency
Transpa
image: Flickr/Victor1558

52. ②
②
People still believe in government
and want it to be more effective.
1 in 5 campaigns in the University of Washington’s digital activism study
were explicitly focused on governance issues.
Source: Global Digital Activism Data Set, Digital Activism Research Project at the University of Washington (www.digital-activism.org)
image: Flickr/Victor1558

53. These groups are also vibrant and passionate constituencies to support
the work of open government and the politicians who undertake it.
③
image: Flickr/Victor1558

54. ④
21st century civil society is a partner for open government.
They have the desire and capacity to make open government work.
image: Flickr/Victor1558

55. Thank You!
Mary Joyce
www.digital-activism.org
mjoyce@uw.edu
image: Flickr/Victor1558