How can Web 2.0 help to improve citizen participation in the goverment?

Question

Web 2.0 provides a new range of easy to use platforms for end-users to generate and contribute content, ideas and opninions. Who nows of concrete applications of these platforms in a government context?

Answer 1

People will still have to seek out information much like they do now.  Political participation has trailed off because of apathy and disbelief in the system and not because of the difficulty of staying informed.  If its not entertainment people won't seek it out, its the difference in viewers of the Daily Show/Colbert Report vs. CNN/MSNBC.

Answer 2

Public awareness of the government is the end result of the Web 2.0 so that people will know what is happening.