The Snowden Case: About More Than Leaking

„Given all that, it might be time to think about the amount of secretive activity of the government and about seriously changing the system and culture.

That may lead to the public becoming more civically active and more involved in networks that don't simply entail »liking« or »poking.« This would carry with it the ability to effect real change.

In the United States, that might require taking the work of lobbyists out of the hands of professionals — and back into those of volunteers and broad-based membership organizations.

But most important is to change the American citizens' image of their government through increased deliberative democracy.

If the U.S. system of deliberation is failing, forces in the government, which are not only bureaucratic and self-referential but also secretive, are liable to take more power. That would diminish democracy even further.

In such a system, resistance against these bureaucratic power-holders will be the primary weapon — much as Snowden's was.”