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Last Saturday, the citizens of Iceland voted in favor of the new Constitution, EurActiv reports. The bill was drafted thanks to a crowdsourced process that started a year and a half ago.
The first results showed that 66 percent of citizens participated to the non-binding vote (Iceland has about 235,000 eligible voters.)
On the ballot, citizens could answer “yes” or “no” to six questions, including the role of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as state church and the declaration of all non-privately owned natural resources as “national property” (the “yes” won with more than 80 percent votes.)
Back in June 2011, I wrote about the participation process that was in the making:
The “crowdsourcing body in charge” is a council of 25 members elected by popular vote from a field of 522 candidates over the age of 18 ... The council is basing its work on a 700-page report prepared by a committee that took into account the recommendations of the National Forum.This looks like a pretty complicated process, but it includes input directly from citizens. As I recall the US Constitution was written by a few smart dudes who hung out in a room together and argued until they finished the thing. I like this new way better.
Recommendations need to be approved by local staff before being passed on to the council and posted online for discussion, but then, when approved by the council, they are added to the draft of the document."
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