I've created a company named Webcitizen, which employs digital technologies in the creation of participatory channels that bring citizens closer to each other and to public and private institutions. Webcitizen aims at fostering the opening, the transparency and the democratization of public administration through collaborative public dialogue. The team of professionals working for Webcitizen volunteer part of their work to maintain the initiative presented here (Votenaweb), which does not receive any sort of funding. Citizens participate by voting, commenting, divulging and suggesting changes in the platform.
I want to create stronger democracies, bringing people and governments together in the construction of better city, states, countries.Empirical research on political science suggests political apathy is a key problem for contemporary democracies. In countries that have recently experienced a dictatorship, such as Brazil, this problem is even bigger, as most citizens think of politics as something distant from their lives or intrinsically corrupt. The lack of transparency in public institutions imposes a deeper difficulty, as citizens cannot find basic information about issues that affect their lives or even follow the work of political representatives they have elected. When information is provided by political institutions, it is often not fully accessible. Citizens face a thorny road when attempting to find organized and clear information about politics. Such problem feeds the vicious cycle that increases political apathy and the isolation of the political system from the rest of society. Democracy’s basic idea of structuring a government from the people and to the people is, therefore, undermined. As pointed by Habermas, the political system cannot build itself as an autopoietic social sphere if it is to be democratic.
Fernando Barreto, 38, served as art director and advertising for over 15 years, has been involved in public policy projects, for example, Brazil's candidacy to the 2014 World Cup. Since January 2009, he is dedicated exclusively to Webcitizen, a company wich he is cofounder, dedicated to create channels of civic participation. Fernando Barreto is one of the creators of the site Votenaweb promoting civic engagement, and one of the coordinators of TEDx São Paulo and the TEDx Amazônia.
