Author: Devin

  • Making the Libertarian Party Viable in New York City

    Making the Libertarian Party Viable in New York City

    This article originally appeared on Gotham Gazette on June 29th, 2018. New Yorkers are constantly complaining about the two-party political system. Democratic domination of New York City politics means Democratic primary elections are more impactful than general elections. Republican domination of the national political system means New Yorkers’ progressive cultural values are rarely reflected in…

  • Taiwan’s Radical Participatory Democracy Training is Coming to New York

    Taiwan’s Radical Participatory Democracy Training is Coming to New York

    This article originally appeared in Gotham Gazette on June 5th, 2018 Many people are wondering whether rapid advances in communication technology will improve or degrade American democracy. Last decade, the answer seemed to be: improved! Wikipedia’s growth showed us the unimaginable “wisdom of the crowd,” WordPress made it possible for the world’s smartest people to…

  • “The Open Aid Movement” Presented at NVOAD Conference May 9th, 2018

    “The Open Aid Movement” Presented at NVOAD Conference May 9th, 2018

    I had the honor of presenting “The Open Aid Movement” at the 2018 NVOAD conference in Providence, Rhode Island. This presentation offers an overview of the Open Aid Movement and its four components. Each component had a case study that was prepared by an expert in that specific area. The four components and slide contributors…

  • For Government, It’s DSO or Die

    For Government, It’s DSO or Die

    This piece was originally published on Gotham Gazette on March 28, 2018 Private sector innovations in information technologies are transforming virtually every industry, and the rate of change seems to be accelerating. A decade ago, Facebook was a website used almost exclusively by college students to keep in touch with each other; today it’s one of the…

  • Debrief: My 2017 Campaign for NYC Public Advocate

    Debrief: My 2017 Campaign for NYC Public Advocate

    Every vote has been counted, and 74% of NYC voters want Democrat Letitia James to continue as Public Advocate. I congratulated her on her success and will happily work with her to make NYC’s government more open, transparent and participatory. I hope she’ll take me up on my offer. Those experienced in third-party NYC politics…

  • A More Transparent City, with a Page for Every Capital Project

    A More Transparent City, with a Page for Every Capital Project

    This piece was originally published on Gotham Gazette on November 2, 2017 Few things impact the lives of New Yorkers more than the city’s “capital projects.” These projects create, maintain, and improve the infrastructure New Yorkers use every day, including: streets, bridges, tunnels, sewers, parks, and so much more. In 2018, the capital budget will be $16.2…

  • “Big City” Libertarianism

    “Big City” Libertarianism

    The Libertarian Party (LP) is the third largest political party in the United States, with a membership that’s twice as large as the Green Party and twenty times as large as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Unlike the Greens and DSA, which draw a significant support from urban areas, the LP is significantly more…

  • Imagining SimNYCity

    Imagining SimNYCity

    I was eight years old when I first encountered a computer game called “SimCity.” The general premise of the game was that you were the mayor of a virtual city, and you would use game money to create a place for communities of “Sims” to live. First you set up basic infrastructure like roads, pipes,…

  • OpEd: Disaster Preparedness Requires a 211 System; New York City Still Doesn’t Have One

    OpEd: Disaster Preparedness Requires a 211 System; New York City Still Doesn’t Have One

    This piece was originally published on Gotham Gazette on October 3, 2017 Over the last few weeks, New Yorkers have watched with great anxiety as Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, among many other places, were pummeled by massive hurricanes. Whenever we see storm destruction, memories of Sandy re-enter our consciousness; as does the question: Is New…

  • It’s Time for a “Participatory” Democracy Instead of our “Consumer” One

    It’s Time for a “Participatory” Democracy Instead of our “Consumer” One

    Democracy in the United States was established nearly 250 years ago when news traveled at the speed of a horse and real-time collaboration required sharing a physical location. Today, ubiquitous internet access, smartphones, social media, and online collaboration tools have transformed how we work, play and consume, but the basic structure of our politics remains…