Smart Citizens, Smarter State：The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing

Government“ofthepeople,bythepeople,forthepeople”expressesanidealthatresonatesinalldemocracies.Yetpollafterpollrevealsdeepdistrustofinstitutionsthatseemtohaveleft“thepeople”outofthegoverningequation.Governmentbureaucraciesthataresupposedtosolvecriticalproblemsontheirownareatroublesomeoutgrowthoftheprofessionalizationofpubliclifeintheindustrialage.Theyareespeciallyill-suitedtoconfrontingtoday’scomplexchallenges.Offeringafar-reachingprogramforinnovation,SmartCitizens,SmarterStatesuggeststhatpublicdecisionmakingcouldbemoreeffectiveandlegitimateifgovernmentweresmarter—ifourinstitutionsknewhowtousetechnologytoleveragecitizens’expertise.Justasindividualsuseonlypartoftheirbrainpowertosolvemostproblems,governinginstitutionsmakefartoolittleuseoftheskillsandexperienceofthoseinsideandoutsideofgovernmentwithscientificcredentials,practicalskills,andground-levelstreetsmarts.Newtools—whatBethSimoneNoveckcallstechnologiesofexpertise—aremakingitpossibletomatchthesupplyofcitizenexpertisetothedemandforitingovernment.Drawingonawiderangeofacademicdisciplinesandpracticalexamplesfromherworkasanadvisertogovernmentsoninstitutionalinnovation,Noveckexploreshowtocreatemoreopenandcollaborativeinstitutions.Insodoing,sheputsforwardaprofoundnewvisionforparticipatorydemocracyrootednotinthepaltryactofoccasionalvotingortheserendipityofcrowdsourcingbutinpeople’sknowledgeandknow-how.