Youneverchangethingsbyfightingtheexistingreality.

Tochangesomething,buildanewmodel
thatmakestheexistingmodelobsolete.
RichardBuckminsterFuller

Vision
Introduction
Active Citizen is acitizensnotforprofitinitiativewhichaimstoprovideaneutralspacefor
groups and individuals who wish to contribute to growing acultureof citizen engagement
and active citizenship. Wewillprovide a purposebuiltonline platform which will
empower
people to
organise around issues,
discuss ideas and collectively
engage with elected
representatives.

We see
ActiveCitizen as an activityundertakenbythepeoplewhocareaboutthecountry
theylivein,ratherthanasaproductwithanorganisationbehindit.
Our Mission:
To nurture, encourage and enable every citizens participation intheir
democracies.
Ourultimate
goalis raisequality of democracyand strengthen theciviccapacityofsociety
byempoweringandenabling:

Active
Participation
inpoliticalprocesses
Public
Deliberation
onpolicymaking
Transparency
ofpoliticalprocesses.

ActiveParticipation
ActiveCitizenwillhelpthepeopleto:
Strengthen representativedemocracybyencouragingmore frequent participation in
society rather than simply expressing a preference every 5 years, people will be
abletogetinvolvedindaytodayissues.

Encourage active participation and engagecitizensin consultationonpolicymaking

withpublicrepresentativesofalllevels.

Ensure every voice is heard: Instead of waiting for policies to be enacted from a
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distance, influence over decisionmaking will be returned to the people peoplewill
be able to organise and communicate their concerns proposals will be made by
peoplewhocare.
Enable citizens to mobilize support for specific aims amongst likeminded people
permitgroupsofpeopletomergetheircausewithsimilargroups.
Ensurethatcitizenscaneasilytaketheircampaignoffline,intotherealworld.

Encourage contributions from citizens, enriching online information sources and

fosteringagreatersenseofcommunity.

Deliberation
Webelievethatweneedto
modernise
whatisessentiallya19thcenturyrepresentative
democracyandtocomplementitwithaparticipatorydemocracywhichismuchmoredirect,
muchmoreinteractiveandmuchmoreimmediate.
Establishchannelsofcooperationbetweencitizens,companiesandmunicipalities.

Improve decisionmaking by encouraging debate and empowering people to

contributetheiropinions,regardlessofideology.

Enhance the quality of opinion formation by providing information, transparent

deliberationanddebate.
Encouragetheevaluationofideasonmeritratherthanpartydrivenpoliticalstance.

Assistourrepresentatives byprovidingeasyandefficientconsultationbetweenthem
andthepeopletheyrepresent.

Transparency
We believe that greater transparency leads to greater accountability and from there to
greatertrustandabettersociety.
Ensurethatfactorsinfluencingdecisionmakingarebroughtintotheopen.

Foster a spirit ofopennesswhichwillincreasecitizenstrustingovernmentandstate

agencies.

Howwillweachieveourgoals?
Ourgoalswillbeachievedthrough:
A unique and innovative online environment enabling greater citizen participation,
deliberationandtransparencyinthedecisionmakingprocess.

Aplacefordebateandopinionformationforvotersandforthepeopletheyelect.
Aforumfordirectproposalofnewpoliciesbycitizens,forgatheringsupportforthese
policiesandpromotingthem.
A crowdsourced, usergenerated ideas platform with usercontributedblogs, forum
posts,tweets,petitions,proposalsetc.

Acommunitysitewhereeverycitizencangotobeheard,whereeachvoicewillhave
achancetobeconvertedintoaction.

Apublicdebateforumforrealpoliticaldiscussionbetweenpoliticiansandcitizens.
A place where everybody is equal, regardless of age, gender, race, sexuality or
politicalaffiliation.
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A compelling and enjoyable experience where people are motivated to use their
sparetimetoengage,contributeandfeelrewarded.

Ethos
ActiveCitizen isanonpartisan,nonsectarian,nonviolentmovementwhichhasnopolitical
affiliation or agenda. It isinclusive andallpoints ofviewareaccepted. (Althoughabusive
andobjectionablecontentwillberemovedinlinewiththeCommunityRules.)

Funding
Intime,ActiveCitizenaimstobefullyfundedbydonationsgivenbyindividualdonors.

ActiveCitizenPlatform

Introduction
The first online tool that will be launched by Active Citizen is the Active Citizen Platform
whichwill directlyaddressourgoals of Participation,DeliberationandTransparency.There
willbeseveralmodulesinthisplatform,whicharedescribedbelow.

Organising
The platform will permit people to organise themselvesintogroups withasinglepurpose.
Groups willalso beable to mergewithothergroups,andmovementsoflikemindedpeople
will emerge. New technology has provided us with a mechanism whereby groups of
concernedcitizens which today are fragmented,can grouptogetherin ordertoaddressthe
issuesthatinterestthem.

Features: Initiate a project inyourneighbourhood/community/country|Supportaproject

|Contributetoaproject|Stayinformedaboutaproject

Actions
Activities cannot solely berestrictedto onlineactivities (whichiscriticisedasslacktivism).
Our initiative will therefore facilitate organisation of offline participatory citizenry. Actions
may betopaintaschool,toholdameeting, tovoteona communitymatter,topetitionfora
change, to raise funds.Wewillprovide an openextensibleAPI so that newactionscanbe
configured by the community itself. Initially, we will provide functionality for (i) a standard
event (such as a meeting, community day out, or litter collection day) (ii) make a petition
and(iii)raiseadonation.Thelattertwoactionsarediscussedbelow.

Features:
Debateboard Blogs/Commentary/Feedback/Forums|Livevideostreamingof
events|Socialmediainteraction/Facebook/Twitteretc

Petitions
This facilitywillallow any person to raise a proposal on any issue theyfeel stronglyabout.
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The proposal will gain support through online votes, and the electronic petition will be
presented to the elected decisionmakers. We will also encourage consultation and
dialogue between the elected representatives and the people they have been elected to
represent.

Features:
Creating petitions | Compiling names | Moderation | Escalation of petitionfrom
onlinetorealworld(dispatchingpetition)|Voting|Forwardingpetitionstopoliticians.

Education
Our goal of widespread participation amongstthe populationwill beassistedby educating
and informing the public about their responsibilities, influence and ownership of the
democraticsystem.

We will provide an interactive educational initiative aimed at creating an awareness of

democratic processes and practices, explaining how the current political systemoperates
which will help voters to build an informed opinion and make a rational decision on a
possiblefuturecourseofaction.

Features:
Blogs/Commentary/Feedback/Forums | Flash movies | Document repository |
Webinarswithexperts |Knowledgebase|Q&As|Publiceducationsyllabussupport| Local
politics/Town hall agenda published ahead of time, inviting discussion and providing
citizen/decisionmaker consultation|Specificcontentwillbesourcedforthemainimmigrant
languages.

Raisedonations
Stripe.com
willmostlikelybeusedinitiallyforanyonlinedonations.

Features:
RaisedonationsforActiveCitizen|Raisedonationsforspecificcauses

ExtensibleAPI
TheActive Citizen codebase,asitis developed,willbereleasedasOpenSourcesothatit
may benefit likeminded communities throughout theworld. Among existing Open Source
initiatives, Code for America provides us with unique opportunity of leveraging some
existing platforms that already have traction. Redeploying what has been developed and
usingexistingdatawillsavetimeandsignificantlyreducefinancerequirements.
www.ActiveCitizen.cc
https://www.scribd.com/activecitizen
e:activecitizen.cc@gmail.com
twitter:@ActiveCitizen_
URLtothisdocument:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uv2llALvocpWVUNEYRJyuozYhGqWlwCBI3n4O7blhQ/edit

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