Subject: Sustaining Democracy
From: "Sally Painter" <[email-masked]>
To: "Sally Painter" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 16:00:28 -0500

Dear Friends - 

Given all the potential changes in the Middle East, please see the link
below for an article on the need for capacity building in nascent or
emerging democracies.   

And if you do not wish to receive these emails -- please just let me
know.

http://www.progressivefix.com/facebook-and-twitter-alone-can%E2%80%99t-s
ustain-democracy

with warm personal regards,

sally

Sally Painter

Blue Star Strategies

(+1) 202-833-1268  direct

(+1) 202-822-9088 fax

[email-masked]
<mailto:[email-masked]> 

888 17th Street NW, Suite 800

Washington, DC 20006

www.bluestarstrategies.com <http://www.bluestarstrategies.com> 

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Facebook and Twitter Alone Can't Sustain Democracy

March 3, 2011 

Sally Painter 

view bio <http://www.progressivefix.com/Sally-Painter>  

________________________________

Sally A. Painter is Chief Operating Officer at Blue Star Strategies, LLC

by Sally Painter
<http://www.progressivefix.com/facebook-and-twitter-alone-can%E2%80%99t-
sustain-democracy#SallyPainter>  

 From Tunisia to Egypt to Libya, as governments in countries continue to
teeter and fall, the voice of a new generation bolstered by the internet
is opening doors for democracy. But though the celebrations in the town
squares of Tahrir and Mohammad Bouazizi are still fresh, brutal
crackdowns in Iran, Libya, and Bahrain show how fragile the call for
democracy is - and why technology alone can't sustain democratic
revolution.

Over the past month, the world watched as legions of young tech-savvy
Twitter and Facebook users banded together in a virtual civil society to
create change in their governments. Using a new, free, and open tool
such as the internet was a powerful way for the first plugged-in
generation in history to demand change. When their respective government
bodies attempted to censor the protesters, a world-wide safety web was
immediately cast for the photos, videos, and online messages that would
mobilize, organize and encourage the citizens. The rules of political
organizing had been changed - freedom was literally in the air.

Social media is filling an important vacuum in these revolutions: social
media is becoming the fabric of civil society that is otherwise missing
from autocratic states. A vibrant civil society with a strong NGO
community is the glue that keeps any democracy together. It takes a
multitude of organizations, student groups, institutions, and other
volunteers to safeguard the fresh, new democracies that are springing up
in countries such as Egypt, Liberia, and Ukraine. Without a strong civil
society and an independent open economy where citizens feel safe,
democracy will fail.

Strong and independent non-government groups support democracy by
providing a channel for every citizen to work within to achieve change
in policy and to safeguard hard-won freedoms.

Such independent groups provide necessary forums for citizens to
moderate conflict, teach democratic principles, and push for political
change in a peaceful and legitimate manner.

If the United States wants to help citizens protect their new
democracies around the world, we ought to start with the basic
foundation of our country - that a government for the people and by the
people requires more than Facebook and Twitter. Capacity-building NGOs
and volunteer citizens must band together to offer their country a
support system during these fragile times.

Americans and like-minded countries such as Poland and the Czech
Republic can lend a hand, organizing advocacy groups that can mobilize
the NGO community and citizens. After the fall of the Berlin Wall,
'Freedom Fighters' traveled around the globe to share their first-hand
knowledge with these stakeholders of other emerging countries.

Social media has played an integral part, but for an effective follow up
to virtual revolt, an old fashioned civil society is what these fresh
new democracies require. Though the door to democracy has opened in some
countries, it will take a strong, independent civil society to ensure
that it will not be slammed shut once again. As the online world comes
face to face with the military might of the entrenched powers that be,
there is a need for on-the-ground organized citizen engagement and
dialogue.