Visualization practice and government: Strategic investments for more democratic governance

Abstract

Practitioners and advocates see great potential to lever visual tools of all kinds to illuminate complex challenges, share information, create collective insight, and more efficiently show the results of meetings, data-dives, scans of social media, etc. Advocates of using visualization in public sector contexts typically focus on its potential for: describing and analyzing complex challenges; tracking social media and other streams of big data; and using infographics and other techniques to communicate information, insights, and messages to elected leaders and various publics. However, with the exception of digitally-driven services, little interest has focused on how visualization can better show how government works, its fabric, shifting contours, and complexity. This paper reviews different visual practice domains and their underlying craft logics and motivations. It makes a distinction between the application of visual tools in support of the ‘instrumental’ functions of government (associated with competing for, securing, and wielding the power) as opposed to ‘democratic functions’ (advising elected leaders, engaging citizens, and furthering accountability). It argues that the greatest inroads for visual tools has been in the more ‘instrumental areas’—supporting political parties and sitting governments for monitoring and service delivery—as opposed to furthering the larger aspirations of ‘democratic governance’. It concludes that for governments to invest more in visual tools for democratic governance will require political leadership and improved capacity inside government, and that sustained, systematic research will is required to monitor the take-up and influence of digital tools in these areas.