California's fiscal health is in a downward spiral with no end apparently in sight. But when that end comes, the crash will be a doozy. After enduring California's longest budget stalemate in history, a time period spanning July to September 2008, the legislature and governor agreed upon a budget that was almost immediately torpedoed by the nation's economic crisis.
Now California legislators are arguing virtually around the clock from their entrenched positions (Democrats primarily advocating tax increases, with Republicans primarily advocating spending cuts) to find a way to plug a budget gap likely exceeding $40 billion by next year. The current proposal would impact Californians with massive additions to and increases in taxes, surcharges and fees including a 2.5% income tax surcharge, an additional $0.10 (possibly more) per gallon fee on gas purchases, and numerous other increases. It would also include dramatic cuts and work stoppages in infrastructure projects.
The budget stalemate not only illustrates the disconnected between political parties, but the disconnect between the politicians and their constituents. The citizens of California deserve to have a stronger voice over their politicians and the policies that impact them directly. You are surely asking, "what does this have to do with open source?" Well, nothing directly, but the ideals of open source (as identified by the Open Source Initiative and the classic text "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", as well as concepts drawn from the book "Wikinomics") provide an excellent starting point for changing the budget and legislative processes to better serve the state. Consider these advantages found in the open source model:
Now California legislators are arguing virtually around the clock from their entrenched positions (Democrats primarily advocating tax increases, with Republicans primarily advocating spending cuts) to find a way to plug a budget gap likely exceeding $40 billion by next year. The current proposal would impact Californians with massive additions to and increases in taxes, surcharges and fees including a 2.5% income tax surcharge, an additional $0.10 (possibly more) per gallon fee on gas purchases, and numerous other increases. It would also include dramatic cuts and work stoppages in infrastructure projects.
The budget stalemate not only illustrates the disconnected between political parties, but the disconnect between the politicians and their constituents. The citizens of California deserve to have a stronger voice over their politicians and the policies that impact them directly. You are surely asking, "what does this have to do with open source?" Well, nothing directly, but the ideals of open source (as identified by the Open Source Initiative and the classic text "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", as well as concepts drawn from the book "Wikinomics") provide an excellent starting point for changing the budget and legislative processes to better serve the state. Consider these advantages found in the open source model:
- More brain power means more diversity of views and better ability to solve problems
- Speedy fixes to problems and resolution of issues
- Lower overhead by outsourcing difficult issues to those with expertise and interest
- Creating a closer tie between companies (politicians/government) and customers (constituents)
- Better responsiveness to customer feedback and needs
- Facilitating a sense of inclusion and legitimacy of decisions and actions
The idea that government activities would benefit from more transparency to and direct involvement from involvement of constituents is not new. An organization known as MorePerfect.org has had its website running since 2006 offering a platform for anyone to voice there opinion, and draft and modify legislation on any issue (including revising the US Constitution). This is but one example, but imagine how effective such an idea could be if both the legislature and constituents committed to it.
Maybe the politicians could set aside their entrenched positions by listening to the priorities and needs of citizens, which would not only lead to a budget aligned with the state's needs but would also help win the trust of citizens.
2 comments:
a significant problem with this approach is that it assumes the open source contributors have all of the information, context and a lack of bias that our legislators are supposed to. Someone who takes the time to contribute to an open-source software project probably has put time and thought into their contribution. I don't think the same amount of care would be taken by 50% + 1 of the people when it came to my taxes...
Good point. No doubt a 100% open source approach to public policy decision-making is not fully consistent with the idea of representative democracy. In the OS software world, OS principles are implemented in many ways with various strengths and weaknesses. Transparency is a general strength that would benefit government activities. In commercial OS models, OS priciples help in finding good ideas that can then be screened and implemented as the project owner (i.e. Government representatives) see fit. In other words, it doesn't need to be an all or nothing option.
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