Open-Sourced Politics

In this transforming government speech, Clay Shirky presents his argument for what he believes open-sourced programming (the Internet) can teach democracy and society. He begins his speech by sharing the story of a young girl whose school forced her to delete her blog that ranked the cafeteria's meals each day. The backlash and public outcry that occurred supports Shirky's point that as media outlets expand, so does the number of diverging opinions and disagreement.

This, however, is a good thing, and should governments be more willing to lay it all out online -- legislation, documents, statutes -- because the world would be a much better place. In addition to the transparency it would create, governments could visit forums and community boards to actively engage with citizens. Shirky's transforming government speech both informs and entertains his audience.