David Wisner is the author of three acclaimed books and numerous scholarly articles on historical and political topics. He appears occasionally on Greek and international television, and has been featured in the Huffington Post and in Kathimerini. He teaches international relations at the American College of Thessaloniki and is Executive Director of the Dukakis Center for Public Service.
Excerpts below of a recent post on Medium by Kaspar Korjus, Managing Director at e-Residency (Estonia). …/… [W]e tend to focus on how technology will advance, but not on how that new technology will alter the way we live our lives in more fundamental ways… Our nations are now undergoing a digital revolution, which will … More Brave new [digital] world
Excerpts below from an article by Zachary Elkins on Medium. The Joy of Politics posted a note on Constitute in June 2017. One nagging challenge in Constitutional design is how to involve citizens in the drafting process in a meaningful way. One traditional role for citizens is to review and approve the proposed text by … More Draft constitutions in comparative perspective
I read a lot of material that amounts to an obituary of democratic governance. Democracy is (choose your descriptor) and plagued by a loss of faith. This is one of the principal reasons I have persisted working on the Joy of Politics project Among other things, I thought that it was important to define both … More Democracy is…
An international group of private citizens has created a novel way to engage in local and European politics: an award offered to politicians who undertake innovative initiatives designed to improve the lives of their constituents. According to their web site, “[t]he Innovation In Politics Awards are the first in a series of activities with the … More Innovation in Politics
Norwegians voted this past week to return the governing center-right party to power. Norway is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Below is an abridged excerpt from the text of the interactive entry on the government of Norway in the CIA Factbook, a great resource to consult online to test your understanding of the design components in … More Design Digest: Norway votes
You might think that simplicity would be at a premium in national elections. The architects of the German electoral system thought otherwise. Germans will vote for members of the federal legislature (the Bundestag) in the autumn of 2017, not once, but twice, simultaneously! The electoral system is a complex hybrid, and we will not know … More Design digest: federal elections in Germany
Below is the text of the Christian Science Monitor’s daily politics newsletter for July 26, 2017, by CMS politics editor Christa Case Bryant. The question is central. What does it really mean to “win” in politics? That’s a theme Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona hit on repeatedly in his speech from the Senate floor … More Winning in politics
Why do so many people dislike politics, especially young people? Could it be because we misunderstand what politics actually is? David Wisner thinks so. Defining politics in clear, practical terms, and explaining fundamental structures and contemporary innovations, notably in the field of information technology, Wisner demonstrates that it is possible to speak meaningfully about politics … More The Joy of Politics
It has been claimed that the core premise of civic tech is to “convert digitally-enabled forms of mass engagement into real change.” Aside from whether this is feasible, it might also be asked, is it so? Is such “change” actually the main objective of civic tech? What might this change look like? Enter vTaiwan. Taiwan … More vTaiwan
From a recent opinion article in the New York Times. Define politics, then. “[T]he small questions that are also the big questions, the ones that help us figure out what connects us together as a town or a state or a country. What do we owe our neighbors? How do we value that which is … More The small questions
The Joy of Politics 