Informating Government

Overview

● How can government be informated?● How much bureaucracy is necessary?● Role of bureaucratic agencies● Ethics of bureaucratic organisations.

Informating Bureaucracy Using Technology to control Social Service

Delivery

Alois Paulin

Introduction of ICT to control thingsCarriage: gradually introduce Tech

Informatisation

Informatisation

Production: easy to segment, standardise and replace each part by Tech

Informatisation of Government

Government: not about processes (like production systems), but about power→ traditional informatisation approach insufficient

Forms of Government - A.Dawns

● state as an arbitrary system of bureaus● that depend on res publica (public matters)● exists for its own goals (continue existing

and expand)

Forms of Government - G. Jellinek

system of individualslegal status● entitlement: positive ⇔ negative● duty: active ⇔ passive

Forms of Government - L.Lessig

4 ways of regulation:● law● market● social norms● architecture

e-Governance

● Currently limited channel of existing services● Rising beyond bureaucracy by building

architecture that controls who can do what in which context

Constellation Based Reasoning

Constellation: Enrolled at University + sufficient ECTS points → Degree

Build Bureaucracy Architecture such that “good” self-serve bureaucracy could emerge

e-Government: How much Bureaucracy is Necessary

Roland Traunmüller

e-GovernmentDoes not exist in vacuum, builds around existing structures.● Promoting Economy● Offering Services to Citizens● Participation of Citizens

e-Government Development

4 waves of development:● Promote access – web presence● Provide (particular) services online● Transform the institution by automating and

reengineering of processes● Next-Generation-Government (i.e. dropping

the “e” as ICT will have become self-evident)

Good / Bad Bureaucracy

Good: Max Weber - 6 principles of bureaucracy.

Bad: Franz Kafka - The Trial (Der Prozess)

“Good” Bureaucracy

Operational Part: ReliabilityPlanning Part: FreedomOpen Source Governance: Promote Participation

Does Bureaucracy stifle Moral Agency? Insights from History, Literature and

Practice

Adeyinka Adewale

Moral Agency (in Businesses)During Industrial Revolution bureaucracy was imported (Fordism)● Added production capacity● Allowed efficient management● Also rigid, undemocratic and unresponsive.

Max Weber’s Bureaucracy

● Formal hierarchical structure● Management by formalised rules● Organisation by functional specialty● An "up-focused" or "in-focused" mission● Purposely impersonal● Employment based on technical

qualifications

Moral Concerns

● Since Industrial Revolution moral issues like child labor.

● Focus shift from mean to ends ● Replacement of societal values by industrial

belief system ● Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Effects on Identity

What drives people to come up with a decision?→ Bureaucracy is the central fabric in human organization

Effects on Identity

● Conformity and loss of independent thought● Companies goals become own goals.● Are we doing the right things ⇔ Are we

doing things right.

90% of Pharmacists describe themselves as salesman and not as life-savers

Conclusion

● Government cannot be informated in the traditional sense.

● We are currently in the 3rd wave of e-Government development.

● A different system of bureaucracy can affect the identity (and morality) of the subjects

Discussion

● Will CBR systems lead to emergence of a new or even “good” bureaucracy?

● Where is the Line between “good” and “bad” bureaucracy?

● How would it be possible for companies to positively affect its employees and their identities?

The governance of Information Freedom in

Crisis

Introduction

● Information Freedom○ through the prism of governance

● Government in Crisis○ breakdown of contract between citizens and

government institution○ political and social component

● distrust ⇒ struggle over information flow○ Protection movement

Several pivotal Cases

● Turkey● Greece● Spain● Romania● Hungary

Turkey Circumventing and Succumbing to Media Control in Turkey: Social Media

as A Sphere of StruggleAsli Tunc, Istanbul Bilgi University

Problems in Turkey

● AKP 13 years in power● Restrictions in Broadcasting (RTÜK)● Freedom House

○ Press status (Not Free)○ 5 year decline

■ from partially free to not free

Media Concentration

CNN Turkey vs. CNN International

RTÜK Bans

● Imposed by courts and regulatory○ bans increasingly frequent○ turned into rule in 2013

● bans related to○ “acts of terror”, killings of security staff, corruption

● In 2014○ 78 warnings, 254 fines to television channels○ 12 warnings, 7 fines to radio stations

Struggle on Social Media

● 36.5 M internet users (of 77 M)● Facebook: 33 M users (90% active)● Twitter: 13 M users● worldwide - 4th largest FB, 8th in Twitter

Twitter

● more political● 2012-13 from 7.2 M to 9.6 M

○ daily tweet increase 370 %● Twitter use on the rise since protests (Gezi

Park) in 2013● 2013 - Twitter widely accepted news source

Twitter Ban

● March 2014 Twitter ban nationwide for 8 weeks○ overturned by Supreme Court○ still remained for two weeks during elections

● April 2015 two week ban● Blocking of Twitter not effective

○ doubled use after ban

Twitter Censoring

● state initiated censoring tweets○ 50% get deleted by twitter

● 5x removal request then any other country● Reasons for removal

○ political leaks, adult content, privacy leaks, trolling

⇒ Prosecution of individuals

Internet Access Ban

● Reasons○ Gambling○ Prostitution○ Drugs○ Defamation (Government critique)○ Crimes against Atatürk

● ISP obliged

Techno-Dystopia?

● Increasing restrictions● Since Law No. 5651 in 2007

○ tens of thousands of websites blocked● Amendments added in 2014 and 2015

○ increase in power to censor the internet○ framework for mass surveillance program

Current Regime

● Amendment to Internet Law as of April 2015● PM & Ministers have right to remove and

restrain access for:○ Protection of the right to live and security of life and

property○ Protection of national security and public order○ Prevention of crime○ Protection of general health

Response Movements

● Protests!● Users became sophisticated and skilled● Political establishment vs. dynamic urban

people

Critical Media in times of crisis: a case study of news media in Greece, Romania

and SpainKatharine Sarikakis and Patricia Smolean, University of

Vienna

Economic Crisis

● Greece○ Rise of the Left

● Spain● Romania

○ Rosia Montana Movement

Media Changes in Crisis

Structural Changes

Elusive crisis of authority,“because of different interests”

Mistrust of civil society in media

Structural changes in media

Fired Journalists Drops in Circulation Figures

Greece 30% 66%

Spain 4500 67%

Romania 5000 80-90%

Crisis of Authority

● Press manipulation

OWNERSHIP

POLITICS MEDIA

“So - this means that I can assure you that the level of propaganda in Greece these 3-4 years was much greater than the Nazi propaganda. (...) - the intensity of the propaganda, the huge amount of lies - it could be compared only with Goebbels and the propaganda ministry of the Third Reich. It was a huge. In order to have people obeying your order or your dictates, you must create people full of debts. So you can control them by using counter-fear. (...)” (Prof. Heretakis, 2015)

Mistrust in Media

“Journalism is a lie … it is also shown in statistics that the less valorized profession in Spain is journalism, because people tend to think, that the media is in the service of State power.” (Spanish journalist, Madrid, 2015)

Trust in Press news

● 23% Greeks● 31% Spaniards● 39% Romanians● 41% EU average (EC, 2013) !!!

⇒ Critical News (media)

Consequences

● Huge unemployment of Journalists● Media in question

○ also before crisis● “Info War”⇒ Alternative Journalist Initiatives

Critical Juncture

● Opportunity for Change● Characteristics (two have to be fulfilled)

○ revolutionary new technology (undermines existing)○ discredited media contents○ major political crisis

● Crisis of identity of structure

Interviews6 x SpainEl Diario, Critic, Cafeambllet (Coffee with milk), Diagonal, Directa, La Mareea5 x GreeceHot Doc, The Press Project, Efemirida ton Syntakton (The Journalist’s Journal), Unfollow, Infowar5 x RomaniaRomania Curata (Clean Romania), Casa Jurnalistului (The Journalist’s House), The Rise Project, Think Outside the Box, Decat o Revista (Just a Magazine)

Social Justice

● Change● Crowd funding

○ solidarity of people● Pressured by Editors due to Sponsoring● Motivation: Social Relevance

Sustainability“INDEPENDENT, BUT POOR! That’s the price of independence!” (Greek journalist)

“We want that our money to depend on our readers, this is our independent project. If the readers don’t pay for the media we are lost because we are going to depend on the banks or the constructions companies again or the public money from our, the Catalan government for example.” (Spanish journalist)

Free Press

● Non-Profit● non existent in Capitalism● Bought Information no democratic value● Journalism dedicated profession for

democracy

Hungary Democratic performance of the media – Hungarian lessons

Ferenc Hammer, Institute for Art Theory and Media Studies Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest

Hungary

● Viktor Orbán leadership○ neo fascist○ since 2010 erosion of fundamental rights○ serious breaches

Democracy Problems Hungary● Council of Europe’s Venice Commission (European Commission for

Democracy Through Law, 2011) - constitutional problems● Freedom House (2015): “International press freedom organizations

assert that Hungary’s laws do not adequately protect media independence.”

● Reporters Without Borders (2014): “Hungary has undergone a significant erosion of civil liberties”

● Guriev and Treisman (2015) Orbán’s rule serves as a case study of their “informational theory of dictatorship”.

● Fareed Zakaria (2014) Orbán’s politics as Putinism, following Orbán’s declaration to build an “illiberal democracy” in Hungary

● US Sen. John McCain: Orbán a “neo-fascist dictator” (BBC, 2014)

Hungary

● The government makes life difficult for Broadcasters

● Everything “properly legal”

“Aims of media politics” by Mérték

● Klub Radio case● Political Selectivity● High access media

State/procurement/spending/share

● 110 M €Circulation

● Right WingConglomerate

by Bátorfy

Soft Censorship, by Mérték/ELTE

Remarks● As communication, so its problems may proceed in a network manner, i.

e. a case-based normative system may be inappropriate (cf early web in the USA). Chill-o-meter needed. Silence. A social construction of censorship.

● Emergence of a stable “censored” society● Rule of law: Fragile and easy to imbalance. Low self-adjusting capacity.

Also: Abuses of media regulation: Children, privacy, etc.● Majoritarian democracy in the network society. Based on the will and

belief to belong to the majority. Any majority. (For many, it is attained through suppressing the minority. (Any minority).

Conclusion

● Crisis leads to structural changes○ Protests, New Movements (far right/left)○ Mistrust in Media

● High concentrations of power○ want to uphold that power○ loss of information freedom

● “Soft” Censorship also a Problem● New press emerges (e.g. Social Media)

Discussion

● Is free & critical press possible in capitalism?● Does corruption and/or censorship in

government prosper during crisis?● Will censorship also be a problem in a

GSIS?● What if Journalists want to be propagandist

and are not interested in trustworthy info?

The WHAT and WHO● Almost all initiatives started during the crisis (2010-2014)● Independent, critical and investigative● With a sharp focus on social change● Constituted in form of cooperatives, self-managed● Horizontal hierarchies● Innovative funding● Small teams● Most journalists which were either fired from mainstream media or were

discontent with the way traditional journalism has been done

Social Relevance

Journalistic priorities● Investigation on economic and

political issues● Critical debates● Crisis in all different facet● Corruption cases● Social problems● Issues of freedom of speech

Journalistic Praxis● Orientation towards civil

societies, of which the mainstream press doesn’t write about

● Journalistic identity: watchdog of power

Social Relevance

“You see that the project, the work you do, the investigations are being useful for the society using communication as a tool for social change” (G.I)

Sustainability“I believe that some newspaper created after the crisis and after website are much more professional and much more free and open than we used to have when the economy was in a boom BUT it’s much more difficult for the journalists to do that. I work 5 times more than I used to work in 2007 and I am getting 5 times less money that I use to get. So it’s 10 levels difference to what I get and how many hours I spent to get that” (Infowar)