There's a little problem with the article, as by the time it was posted, the page was not accepting new ideas, and people in charge closed it to prevent addition of new ideas while they reviewed and cleaned up suggestions towards the final redaction of new laws. Now they're
published, so you can take a peep. It seems some of the discussed ideas were preserved, but not the entire debate, which is a letdown (maybe The Wayback Machine or Google has a copy?). I should mention that not only New Zealand residents, but people from around the world could contribute to the wiki (yeah, it sounds a bit awkward to have a Spanish resident decide on the laws for New Zealand
).
I know that the general public opinion is not that smart regarding how politics work (the same politicians aren't either
), but giving ideas is something that everyone can do. It also helps raising the transparency of the process, as you know that even using the available mediums to follow political discussions, you miss much of the "hidden" talking going on, first in the political parties, and then between the representatives outside the parlament (I won't even mention how much you can miss with the mass media). It also introduces more views on the matter, as political parties tend to be quite monolithic these days.
I suppose the wiki maybe was open to debate following this very forum organization, in the sense that everyone can voice his/her opinion, but not to take on others thoughts (not on wiki fashion at least).
Oh, one last thing. A place where this kind of wiki democracy could work like a charm is within a local government. Cities are small enough (maybe gigantic metropolis aside) for everyone to discuss what should be done and what not, as they don't involve creation of new laws, at least not complex ones.
