Are citizens considered thieves when they steal democracy? Last year an anonymous member of the Senate put a hold on a bill that would restore public access to presidential records. In September, the Sunlight Foundation had people who visited its website call every Senate office until they could track down that anonymous member and make him come out in the open, reversing an archaic procedure.

Now, Wired reports that citizens are using crowdsourcing technology to give open and easy access to information on how SuperDelegates might vote. (SuperDelegates are party members who can vote any way they want in their party's nomination.) Advocates of a more populist democracy would say SuperDelegates should vote in line with the districts they represent. However, many of these delegates have switched sides against the will of their districts, much to the dismay of open democracy advocates. Donna Brazile has come out saying that if SuperDelegates decide the Democratic candidate she'll up and leave the party.

Sites like DemConWatch bring these anti-populist delegates into the open, hoping to shame them into changing their votes. If the Democratic party is truly headed for its first contested convention in decades, the wisdom of the crowd and the technology that enables it may win out
against old fashioned Whig-style politics.

Labels: crowdsourcing