Governance of ICT Re: [LINK] Surveillance in extremis

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Skimming through the forward to the Latham's diaries...a lot of it was a
discussion of his efforts to improve governance when he was mayor of a
NSW - council...I don't recall which one and there was also some mention
of an e-governance project. I have tried to find Internet references to
the e-governance stuff without much luck...

but found
> Lost on the (Third) Way?
> 
> Sue Goodwin, University of Sydney
> 
> Peter Botsman and Mark Latham (Eds.) The Enabling State: People Before Bureaucracy Sydney: Pluto Press, 2001. ISBN 1-86403-103-4 (paperback) RRP $32.95.
> 
> Are governments experiencing a crisis of legitimacy in Australia? Have people lost faith in parliamentary democracy? Are people sick of social solutions by state intervention? Is the bureaucracy a dinosaur that must be taught to dance?
> 
> According to Peter Botsman and Mark Latham, the answer to these questions is definitely ‘yes’. The Enabling State: People Before Bureaucracy is an edited collection of papers expounding a new kind of governance for Australia. The contributors are concerned with developing social capital, devolving service provision from the bureaucracy to the community, encouraging social entrepreneurs, and reinventing democracy. Put together, it is suggested, these form a model of ‘community governance’ made possible by an ‘enabling state’. Editors Peter Botsman and Mark Latham are well known proponents of Third Way politics and so, unsurprisingly, community governance is positioned between and as an alternative to two Other Ways: bureaucratic governance and market governance. According to Latham, this new form of governance will revive faith in parliamentary democracy and allow communities rather than bureaucrats to facilitate community projects and positive social outcomes. He also sugge

sts that the mood of the Australian people requires a shift in the 
direction of community governance and the enabling state. “People”, he 
says, “are longing to belong”.
http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2001/08/goodwin.html

Marghanita
Howard Lowndes wrote:
> A bit of NSW history.
> 
> In 1993 there was a major change to the Local Government Act - in fact a 
> whole new act.  This is the one where all elected heads of council 
> became mayors instead of Lord Mayors, Mayors, or Shire Presidents.  They 
> also replaced Town Clerks with General Managers, and allowed for mayors 
> to be elected either by the council or by the voters.
> 
> One of the main changes was to delegate vast powers to the general 
> manager, almost to the extent of him/her being capable of ignoring the 
> wishes or policies of the council.
> 
> I think a lot of this lack of PR stems from these powers, in as much as 
> the staff in general feel that they have the power to do and implement 
> what they like with little reference to, consultation of, or information 
> of, the elected members.
> 
> 
> Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
> 
>> <snip>
>> Transparency and Performance Indiactors would be useful. The reality is
>> that most elected councillors do the job part time. They have limited
>> sklls and the Council employees run rings around them.
>>
>> While there is much talk of governance, you will find it is infact
>> extremely poor....the reality is that the Mayor of Ryde was probably as
>> clueless about the implications of the RFID in the bins as his
>> constituent, the deputy premier - though you would expect the latter to
>> be more knowledgeable.
>>
>> When I recently, tried to borrow a book from the local library, they
>> wanted my email address, mobile phone number...I asked them why and they
>> said they had a new computer system. This reassured me and I  chose not
>> to provide them.
>>
>> Marghanita
> 
> 


-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
Ramin Communications
http://www.ramin.com.au
Phone: 0414-869202
Email: marghanita at ramin.com.au