What happened to the Digital Democracy Forum?
In the wake of the 2009 South African elections, we have to wonder what happened to the Independent Democrat’s Digital Democracy Forum. SMS text messaging has been used to great effect in these elections to raise awareness and funds for a host of political parties; what we can’t find is any recent link to or activity on the Digital Democracy Forum.
Launched late 2003 by Independent Democrats leader, Patricia De Lille, the Digital Democracy Forum was meant to allow the South African citizenry to “mouth off to politicians.” De Lille said at the launch of this innovative SMS text messaging service that, “Politicians in this country like to constantly mouth off their political opinions to South African voters. I believe that it is high time that the South African public has the opportunity to do the same to us.” Viva, Patricia, Viva.
Digital technology offers the means of bringing politics back to the people by allowing them to voice their opinions in real-time and make their voices count. In South Africa, which has nearly 100% cellphone penetration, this SMS service would allow any person, anywhere in the country, to make their voice heard. That is presuming that political parties are actually interested in hearing the thoughts and opinions of their constituents.
The potential for SMS text messaging in the South African political landscape is immense. SMS text messaging campaigns, SMS mobile voting, SMS opinion polls, SMS referendums and SMS calls to action are a few of the applications that could have a dramatic effect on our political landscape. SMS text messaging overcomes all demographical limitations meaning that physical location, income, race, religion and age are not barriers to participating in our democracy. Mobile messaging is also not hindered by lack of access to Internet, television or radio. All mobile phones can send and receive text messages wherever there is network coverage.
The biggest failing in South African politics and democracy in general is the lack of input from the very people that comprise the democracy. SMS text messaging with two-way texting options could go a long way to alleviating this particular problem. Imagine if you could send a SMS message to government to tell them that that you were pro-or-anti the restitution of the death sentence, pro-or-anti the Dali Lama visiting the country or didn’t want to spend R75 million on an inaugural ceremony for the next president. Imagine if you could affect decisions in real-time, simply by sending a SMS text message.
By having active citizenry response mechanisms such as SMS text messaging hotlines the government would perhaps remember that its prime responsibility is to follow the dictates and wishes of the people that it serves. The Independent Democrats spoke at the launch of the Digital Democratic Forum of SMS text messaging as being another “powerful medium and manner in which… to reconnect with South African voters and take politics back to the people, where it belongs.” I think we can all agree with that sentiment. All that government would need to do if it really wanted to hear from its constituents is a stable SMS Gateway provider, a shortcode number and the courage to listen to the people it is meant to serve.
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Tags: 2 way SMS, Clickatell South Africa, mobile messaging, SMS, SMS calls to action, SMS gateway, SMS mobile voting, SMS opinion polls, SMS referendums, SMS text messaging, SMS text messaging campaigns
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