Government Use of Technology to Interact With Citizens

We live in webs, and just like spiders, everything around us is connected. This is especially true when it comes to a government and its citizens.   And although the United States Government relies heavily on law enforcement and physical barriers to interact with citizens, technologies such as cameras, cell phones and television play a significant and defining role in the interaction between citizens and government.   This substantial role is due to the easily accessible and widespread nature of such technologies and the reliance of law enforcement and physical barriers on said technologies.

In order to understand the significant role of cameras, spreadsheets, and television we must first determine what technology is and it’s typical uses.  Technology is the use of methods, skills, and devices to achieve a purpose or goal.   This means that all of the technology which we will observe has a purpose (“Technology”).   In our case, the purpose is to aid the interaction between government and citizens.   The typical role of the camera in this interaction is to document and capture images of government or public actions and cell phones allow easy access to government information.   With regard to television, it’s role is to facilitate the communication of national news to both the government and the people.   It is also important to note that communication is a form of interaction.   

We often assume that the obvious things like law enforcement and physical barriers serve as the main interactions between the government and our everyday lives.  But, upon further inspection it becomes clear that the use of technology has a far greater role in this interaction.  If we look at the role of police officers it may appear that they conduct serious interactions as shown by one interaction with the Stanford Campus Police.   The article described, “Graduate students… wrapping up a masked and socially-distant picnic on the Stanford Oval when they were approached by two...   Stanford police officers” (Schrader).   While at first this may seem significant, according to data from the ACLU of NY, only about ten to thirty percent of encounters resulting in a consequence such as a court date or ticket  (ACLU of NY).   This means that if only few interactions between law enforcement and citizens actually result in another worthy consequence then it is clear that these seemingly important interactions are not very significant.   Physical barriers have a similar role as law enforcement.   At first, it seems reasonable to claim that physical barriers such as stop signs are government control of our conduct on the roads.   The law even states, “Every driver of a vehicle approaching a stop sign shall stop” (“2013 New…”).   Now although this may seem to affect all road users, only about half of the population comes to a complete, “Legal” stop (“Change of Subject…”).   Furthermore, it is estimated that only 42 percent of crime is reported to law enforcement in the United States (Dispatch). This means law enforcement doesn't act on the majority of crime and thus doesn't even interact with a fraction of the population.   Typically we think of significant things affecting almost everyone involved, but if only about half of people interacting with this government created a physical barrier obey it, then how can we call it significant? Therefore, it is logical to believe that these physical barriers may have some effect, but no significant role in interaction.   However, technologies do play a much larger role in the interaction between citizens and government.

Some of the most prominent technologies in the interaction between government and citizens are cameras.   Many of these cameras are used by the government to monitor citizens.   While these cameras may not be the glaring telescreen in the middle of your bedroom they certainly are everywhere, with some very obvious and some hidden (Orwell 28).   All these cameras are meant to monitor you and thus interact with you discreetly or bluntly.    It’s estimated that there are approximately 30 million surveillance cameras in the United States (“Author The…”).   With such a large number of cameras in use it is inevitable to escape an interaction with one.   On a typical day we usually don't see a police officer or government agent, but we often encounter a surveillance camera.   Therefore, due to the prevalence and scale of cameras they play a significant role in this relationship.   Additionally, cameras have played a role in most recent court cases from injury lawsuits to murder trials.  For example, in 2018 a man who had shot and killed a cab driver was arrested after being caught on a nearby security camera (Brookbank).  In this example cameras allowed for the government to intervene by bringing the individual to court. Furthermore, since our court system affects many people each year, with about 40 million lawsuits filed in the past year the judicial system plays a large role in our lives (“One Legal…”).   So, if cameras are a large part of court cases and thus the judicial branch which interacts with citizens; then they are a large part in the interaction between the Judicial branch of government and the citizens. The National Research Council even states that a majority of suspects caught on tape were taken to trial (National Research…). This makes it clear that cameras are a large part of criminal trials. Therefore, the abundance of camera technology and the reliance of government on cameras makes them a significant part of the interaction between citizens and government.

Cell phones, more specifically the smartphone, also plays a defining role in this interaction.  Cellphones are used by both the public and private to communicate with others, whether it be through phone calls and texts.  One fairly common occurrence is when politicians, or one of their representatives call or text to inform you about their campaign. It is estimated that over 10 million calls went out to voters in beetle ground states on election day (Tony...).  With so many phone calls going out to people it is apparent that government representatives aka politicians are directly communicating with people.  This occurrence is so prevalent that the FCC has established rules for calls and texts that go out to citizens. Regarding texts, the FCC says a “STOP” response is even required to protect voters who don’t wish to be bothered (Consumer...).  This example highlights government interaction with cell phones because now government regulation, a direct form of interaction, has been enacted on the people in addition to the communication of government officials via cell phone.  The ability of cellphones to relay information and spur government action makes them  significant and defining between government and citizen.

The television is another technology that facilitates interaction between citizens and the government because it serves as an outlet for the government to communicate through.  In the United States there are about 285 million televisions that can access the 1,761 local and national news stations (Watson).  With so many news stations that often broadcast government happenings, such as an election or stimulus bill it is almost impossible to avoid an interaction.  Whether it be in your living room or at the local pizzeria you're bound to encounter a television broadcasting some sort of government news.  Through this encounter you inevitably watch and thus interact with an extension of the government.  Another way television aids in this interaction is by allowing a means of direct communication to citizens.  There have been several accounts on which TV has been interrupted for a government broadcast, and one account states, “a real message… came over the...  network that sat inside ..TV station” (Blakemore).  A typical example of these broadcasts is a severe weather warning that could warn of a tornado or blizzard (Michales).  Interruptions like these show that our tv’s can be and have been used for direct communication.  Since the television facilitated this communication it evidently aided in an interaction that occurs between almost every American and their government.  The television facilities interaction by acting as a conduit for communication between the given parties and thus interaction between the two.

Many groups such law enforcement and physical barriers such as stop signs are involved in the interaction between the United states government and its citizens, but none have such a significant role in these interactions as cameras, spreadsheets, and television technologies.  This substantial role is due to the widespread availability and use of these products by the government and the people, in conjunction with their interaction stimulating benefits.  These technologies may not have been the first ideas to pop into your head, when you heard the term government interaction, but it makes you wonder what is really interacting with me if the obvious ones such as law enforcement have little impact on me?

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