Citizen Mail Website

Challenge

Knowledge serves as an important pillar for democracy. The greater the accessibility to knowledge, the more empowered individuals are to make informed, rational decisions. Consequently, the absence of related knowledge poses a significant obstacle to fostering democratic ideals within society. The most important obstacles can be surmised as the following:

  • Lack of knowledge about democracy,
  • Lack of understanding of the democratic system,
  • Lack of communication between citizens and policy-makers.

In addition to that, lack of critical thinking is another major factor that impacts accountability of people in shaping a democratic society and implementing their democratic rights and freedoms. Critical thinking is about having the courage to challenge what is presented. It is not about being negative. It is about asking why and how repeatedly.

Last, but not least, lack of communication is the matter that has a big challenging impact in fostering democracy. Poor communication between citizens and policy-makers can exacerbate societal divisions and polarizations. Communication for development has thus come to be seen as a way to amplify voice, facilitate meaningful participation, and foster social change.

Proposal

The launching of a website with AI feedback where people can write letters to decision makers is the core of this proposal. The website offers various features to bridge the gap between citizens and decision makers, as well as being supplied with informative support by a trained AI. It will be administered by a third non-government party. Two different interfaces will be available, one for youth and another one for adults, as their different needs must be recognized. To enforce that, a personal verification via an official identification document will be required.

With the “Mayor’s Mailbox” -function, citizens are given the opportunity to send digital request letters to the city administration for change they want to see in their local community. The mailbox is public where everyone can see the already made requests. Are similar or the same requests given multiple times, an AI collects these and a number under the request will be displayed how often the same request was made. If a certain number is reached, an email will be sent to the responsible administration. Simultaneously, if a request can not be resolved on a local level, feedback will be given by an AI which is explaining the reason to the user and offers ways for redirection of their request. The website is also accessible to parties which would be able to take up citizen proposals. If one political party shows interest, the people who made the request will be notified. The proposal is a great addition to the “Dear Mayor”-program, as it offers digital tools to tackle the same challenges.

To feel connected with other communities over the world, a digital travel function will be offered as well. This way people can see what are requests and problems in different cities and be inspired. However, they will only be able to send requests to the administration and government of their registered residence.

Additional AI-functions will be used as a democracy question bot which will include knowledge about electoral systems, general definition of democracy and all rights that come with being a citizen of a country. The AI will be able to offer information in a simplified or more complex manner. To train critical thinking, the AI will offer a variety of newspaper articles, social media posts and books when asked a question. This way an opportunity for users to educate themselves on the pros and cons is created as well as gain critical thinking in context of media usage online and question ordinary headlines and statement posts made online.

The website will be accessible to everyone as libraries, schools, community centres will offer access to it as well as every citizen with access to the internet. Furthermore, a possible promotion within election campaigns and in cooperation is possible. With the creation of tutorials on how to use the website which will be published on leaflets, posters and social media as well as video tutorials on YouTube, the approachability will be increased. Later on, the website can be turned into an app to keep active engagement with the public effective.

Impact

As a result of this proposal, the following matters are aimed to reach:

  • Informed and educated citizens,
  • Increased engagement in democratic system,
  • Bridging the gap between citizens and policy-makers,

Trust in political parties and the democratic systems as it creates a direct connection

Through the proposal of “Citizen Mail” Website and its offerings, it’s evident that fostering a clear and robust communication channel between citizens and policymakers is essential. This communication allows people to stay informed about ongoing democratic processes, granting them the necessary knowledge to actively follow and engage in these proceedings, as well as taking the chance to actively shape it themselves.

The public engagement in the democratic system will be simplified and more accessible as citizens are able to support circulating requests or writing a proposal on a specific matter important to them. These are crucial parts of building a trusted and people-lead democracy.

Further, this proposal will have a huge impact for bridging the gap between citizens and policy-makers. The citizens will have more opportunity to reach and to make their voices be heard by the governmental bodies, and in turn, they will review and answer the concerns of citizens. By doing so and through this website, the communication gap between them will be erased.

Lastly, all these mentioned points will also have an impact on increasing trust in political parties and their policy towards democracy building. Because, by this proposal, they will have more chances to connect and to be aware of their strategy. As a result, their trust issues in this regard will be tempered.