Drama

A dramatic weekend across the country came to dramatic end for us and we spent the evening watching a block of the University of Westminster’s Harrow Campus burn. I haven’t had a chance to go and see what the damage is but judging by the height of the flames and the umber of fire engines that turned up, it’s not going to be pretty. It was quite a surreal experience really.

The weekend itself was spent visiting friends down in Crawley. There’s not much to do there so other than eat and drink, when we did go out we headed for Brighton Saturday and then Lewes on Sunday. It was all very relaxing and I managed to put on a load of weight. Football on Wednesday will hopefully put that right.

Anyway, moving on. After a day at work this evening I have actually made a start on writing my dissertation. Working largely from memory I set out a few of the arguments surrounding turnout in UK elections, whether it is a sign of a democracy in crisis or not and the role communications strategies may have played in affecting voter confidence and turnout in elections. I’ve also written a bit about whether it is political communications strategies or the ‘feral media’, to quote a former Prime Minister who are to blame.

Essentially I have just set up the question of what – if any – impact new media might have on political communication and whether it can play a part in creating a more participative democracy. I still have a lot of work to do on it firstly because the arguments are quite complex and I need to made clear that communications is not the only, or even the most important, issue at stake here. I also need to trawl through all the books I read earlier in the year to firm up the arguments I have put forward. Essentially I have to write a 2,500 word essay on whether British democracy is in crisis and the reasons behind it.

And finally, hopefully some more questionnaires will show up soon from Hackney. I’m not going to try and contact any more people now as time has run out but I will continue to chase those who are still pending.