Democracy has taken on new life like never before in Iceland. The country is giving new meaning to the phrase “by the people, for the people” as they embrace social media to form the draft for their new constitution.
Via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Youtube, the citizens of Iceland are able to contribute their opinions on what should be included in the reformed document. Iceland is a tech-savvy country - two thirds of the country is signed up to Facebook - and the nation is using these different mediums in rebuilding their country for future generations. As Iceland continues to recover from its economic catastrophe, a large proportion of its 320,000 inhabitants are actively voicing their opinions on a range of topics to the members of the council.
“To me, it has long been clear that a comprehensive review of the constitution would only be carried out with the direct participation of the Icelandic people” said Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir. Some of the recommendations so far include revising politician’s salaries, legalizing suicide and demanding that Iceland’s natural resources should be state-owned.
The draft is expected to be completed at the end of June, so watch this space!
