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For some years now, we have been witnessing the emergence of relational, cross-over, participative power. This is the territory that gives technopolitics its meaning and prominence, the basis on which a new vision of democracy – more open, more direct, more interactive - is being developed and embraced. It is a framework that overcomes the closed architecture on which the praxis of governance (closed, hierarchical, one-way) have been cemented in almost all areas. The series The ecosystem of open democracy explores the different aspects of this ongoing transformation.
It is difficult nowadays to come across a discourse which does not take into account the role of the people and the participation of society as necessary values for an open governance model. After decades during which the concentration of power into the hands of political elites has become more evident (and crude), the weariness, the frustration and the gaps between the ruling classes and the rest of the population have become almost insurmountable. The challenge is tremendous and, while striving to close the gaps, what we need is to create links between the old power schemes and the new spaces which have been developed and are now consolidated.
