Again no technology, his notes are here, and his blog!
He has always been interested in the participatory process of democracy and sees blogging a way to do this.
How wide spread is political blogging in Australia? Not very wide, and the impact is basically zero. An open market for politicians to get going, I personally wonder the benefits long term that the early adopters, like Senator Bartlett, will achieve.
He conducted a survey of politicians around the world, got 13 responses. Most were just getting into the process and half had a separate web site in addition to the blog. Most started to have a better conversation with there constituencies. Which was their main goal, but they did not see this as beneficial as face to face activities.
Most of the politicians surveyed said they did not feel it won them votes. Some have had negative feedback on how much time they might be spending on blogs when they could be doing other things.
He sees a benefit in having a record of what a politician does that can be referred back to over time. Almost a authoritative version of their activities. Blogging could also be seen as pull politicians back to the original roots of politics (interactions with people), which is a good thing.
Most blogs by politicians in Australia are not really blogs, such as Meg Lees.
One reason why there is limited blogging within Australia by politicians is centred around the fact that Australian politics is more party based than individual based. Local issues are not as widely debated in Australia most of the media focus is on the leaders. However blogging does give politicians the ability to provide a focus on their local areas.
A benefit Senator Bartlett sees is the direct and transparent conversation with people, maybe an extension on “markets are conversations”?
He still does not know if blogging is worth the time at the moment on a federal level, however at a local level there is the potential.
Michael Specht 