Institutions, policies and practices might define democracy, but they're not the only thing that keep the whole show running. Relationships, openness and social self-awareness are foundational parts of a healthy and sustainable democratic system. The ability to be honest and the ability for that information to flow freely from one place to another, so that we all know what we're dealing with. But every society (not just the authoritarian ones) has a self-awareness problem. Walls go up, we lose track, and the effect compounds over time. The collapse of Arab Spring revolutions after an initial outpouring demonstrate a stark example. When those walls have been there for too long, building them again can seem easier than dealing with the flood.

Key Question/s: How can civic tech expand, maintain and protect the relational foundations of democracy such as trust, transparency and social cohesion? Where do these considerations come in the design process?

Drawn from my background, not only as a product developer, but as a graduate researcher mapping shifting social trust networks through the Arab Spring revolutions (for 4 years) and building/adapting civic tech for co-op formation and collective decision-making in the midst of this environment. I’d love to work with fellows on ideas that support democracy as an architecture of relationships that needs to be actively maintained. We can also discuss civic tech's role in keeping information flowing before the walls go back up.