How do we maximize and sustain participation in the #CrowdLaw process?

This post is second in a series of four “reports from the field” on #crowdlaw

On September 24, 2014 The GovLab hosted it’s third online global conference on #CrowdLaw. This event was designed specifically for field practitioners and advocates to share experiences and connect with others who share similar goals but work in diverse international contexts and experiment with different technology and tools. GovLab presented several research questions to drive the conversation: What are the best ways for CrowdLaw advocates to communicate the importance of a CrowdLaw process to the public? What have practitioners learned about citizens’ motivations to participate? How can practitioners continue to expand the diversity of their country audience?

Crowdlaw, or open, collaborative crowdsourced lawmaking, is a tech-enabled approach for drafting legislation, regulations or constitutions, that offers an alternative to the traditional method of policymaking, which typically occurs behind closed doors and with little input from the people it affects.

The aspiration of practitioners is to create laws that are:

• more effective because they bring in more diverse ideas
• more legitimate because they are done with broader participation
• more accountable because the lawmaking process becomes subject to greater scrutiny

To read more about the major takeaways that surfaced regarding trying to involve citizens in this process, click here.