The video is based on a German zensursula video. The producer of the video made several videos that became famous in the German debate on internet freedom etc. Do check out  http://alexanderlehmann.net/ for more videos!

Anyway, the video is a nice reminder what the POTEC  (that sounds quite cool – is there also an official short form?) actually does – arguably not that much. So no need to get overexicted by this new position. A video that should definitely be watched by journalists and governmental website editors:

In a world in which information is like air, what happens to power? New technologies and a closely related culture of collaboration present radical new models of social organisation. This project brings together leading practitioners and thinkers in this field and asks them to determine the opportunity for government.

And:

If distributed networks of people can run complex organisations such as football clubs, what else can they do? Us Now takes a look at how this type of participation could transform the way that countries are governed.  It tells the stories of the online networks whose radical self-organising structures threaten to change the fabric of government forever.

Check out the official website for more background infos and some more interview clips.

Us Now from Banyak Films on Vimeo.

A couple of weeks ago Elmine also did a great video on Th!nkaboutit.eu pondering about the question: “How much influence does the European Parliament actually have? And therefore does my vote have influence?”  Worth watching:

Here my comment about the video (which also can be found in the comment thread):

Don’t know whether I would put a direct arrow between the European Council and the Commission in one of your first graphs. There is usually no direct link in legislative issues. Agenda-setting in EU policy making is only the responsibility of the Commission.

The Lisbon Treaty would actually remove the compulsory/non compulsory budget distinctions completely and increase the involvement of the EP. Would be an interesting point for the next video!

In many countries you cannot vote on individual candidates but only on party lists, so it is debatable whether individual candidates or rather political groups/parties have a bigger influence in the EP.

However, some great examples how to explain political processes with online videos…

The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis.

The goal of giving form to a complex situation like the credit crisis is to quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated. This project was completed as part of my thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

This time the topic is even more complex than last time: It is about the conflict in the Middle East. The video was made by Axel Rudolph, a student of media design in Ravensburg/Germany. Here he explains the purpose of the video:

My dissertation, titled ‘Knowledge’ for my degree at Ravensburg College (subject: media design) deals with a virtual TV format that gives current important matters a more visually attractive shape.

It is especially attractive to younger people. One of my goals is to show that education and learning may also have a ‘cool look’. This new look often reminds the viewer more of a TV music video than that of a matter-of-fact history lesson. The sample – to be seen here – gives a 5-minute-explanation of the roots of the Middle-East conflict. It took about 3 ½ months to research this project, write the story book, and prepare the animation graphics.

I think it is a great piece of work that shows how political news can be presented. The combination of powerful visuals, clear explanations and a certain ‘MTV feel’ is both informative and attractive. It actually reminds me of a survey from a couple of months ago that showed that a majority of people that watch news on TV actually don’t understand them. Maybe a video like that one could help…

knowledge video

“Make complex ideas easy to understand” … sounds like the EU needs something like that. Although the EU started experimenting with online videos lately, it still lacks creativity and a certain “online buzz”. Most of the videos about the EU (not only EUtube!) are either pure news reports or have a political motivation. However, one of the greatest problems of the EU is that nobody understands what exactly it does and how it works (which can also explain low turnouts at European elections). Unfortunately EUtube as well as other video producers do not address these issues. Short simple online videos could help people to learn and think about the EU.  Maybe the video on US elections can turn into an inspiration to produce similar videos about the European elections or the EU decision making process …in plain 23 languages!