I’ve been spending a fair amount of time in the past few weeks diving into the the online discussions regarding Gov 2.0, OpenGov, etc.  Basically, I’m playing catch up.  And I’ve found myself spiraling down some interesting worm holes.

But one of the best assessments of the Government 2.0 trend that I’ve read so far came from Aaron Brazell.  AKA Technolsailor.  Despite the fact that it was written in January 2009, I haven’t read anything else that truly captures how the Gov 2.0 trend is really going to play out.  I completely agree with Aaron’s notion that any external self described Gov 2.0 “expert” isn’t going to make much of an impact changing how government works.  I’m sure there will be an exception or two to that statement.  But you have to truly understand how government works in order to start making a difference in helping it evolve.  Here’s a key passage from Aaron’s post.

There is the elected government which changes every 4-8 years and sometimes longer (in the case of Congress and State legislatures). As well, there is an established government – career feds who are never fired, and rarely quit their jobs. They just move between agencies with established patterns and principles in tow. They are the foot soldiers who actually do the work. The established government is where the real change begins.

That’s exactly right and spoken like someone who has worked within government circles before. ((which I believe Aaron has)) One of my major concerns with the Gov 2.0 and related trends is that the same evolution that took place in social media marketing circles will repeat itself.