The Americgov Website - Essay Example

The original America.gov site offered a window on the structures and processes of the American government. It had extensive links to government departments and was used by researchers and interested observers both within and outside the United States to locate official documents and a host of news and debate. From the perspective of the government, it provided an opportunity to explain controversial issues and decisions, such as foreign policy moves and legal developments. American democracy was laid out for the world to see, and the site provided a uniquely detailed exposition of the mechanics of government. Different organizations, their committee structures, funding, role descriptions and agendas were openly available for all to see. Users could inform themselves about emerging issues, and trackback the history of any government decision through the website.

A system of tabs and links made navigating the original America.gov site very intuitive. In contrast to this, the current America.gov website is a simple headline title with a search function. This means that users can still search the original content, but only via a keyword search. There is no visual structure anymore, and this vastly changes the function of the site. Information is now fragmented and much more difficult to locate. There is no sense of the continuity of history since the search function throws up single items in no discernible order, and with a little indication regarding currency or relative importance.

The transformation of America.gov into its new incarnation, state.gov illustrates an interesting development in the way that democracy is presented to the public. At first, there was an intention to provide continuous disclosure of information whereas now there is a distinct break between past and current activity. The manipulation of format, and the re-labeling of the portal and many of its subsets is an exercise in re-writing history. It does not erase the past, since the internet has the capacity to store items potentially forever, but it repackages the past in a way that inhibits proper comparison with current activities. Crucially, there is no easy way of tracking what has been changed and what has been retained. There is not necessarily a sinister motive behind this move, since every government will try to stamp its own interpretations and definitions on things, but there are serious implications for the way that people view the democratic process. The current state of the America.gov portal spells out just how much power governments have to frame and interpret knowledge.