First Thoughts

This morning a google search gave me more than 60 million results for the phrase 'political blogs'.

The blog, together with viral emails and the use of social networking sites are increasingly being used as a channel through which political organisations interact with the wider public.

Could this development lead to a stronger, more engaged democracy, in which politicians carry out a more open and direct debate with their constituents? Perhaps, but how will politcians convince people to read their blogs or view other on line messages? And are there any risks for politicians who opt to use these new channels of communication?

In essence the questions to be tackled are two.

1) "Is the current trend of using these new channels of communication going to result in a fundamental change to the way in which representatives and represented speak to each other?"

2) "Will this benefit our democracies or not?"