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Der di di di, der der der di di di — still class.

I've been reading the report of the Power Inquiry in advance of attending an event tomorrow on the role of political parties in today's Britain.

I was slightly surprised with how little they commented on political blogs or at least the democratic possibilities afforded by the Internet. Being pretty new to the political blogosphere, I decided to start with some blogs I have heard of but never visited — Harry's Place, normblog and Oliver Kamm. All of which, interestingly, had 9/11 memorial quotes in common.

Jumping around these sites and those of some of their 'adversaries' , it was depressing to see how closed and mutually reinforcing much of the debate is, with stringent claim and counterclaim dominating. Don't get me wrong, I did not expect much else, as I occasionally have a pog at comment is free, but it's fair to say that currently the internet is still a pretty blunt tool. I just hope that its real democratic and participative potential — the brilliant MySociety has shown the way — is out there.

Without engaging with the thinking of Mssrs Harry, Norm and Oliver, which is, at least, thought provoking, it is apparant how the political blogosphere is now intertwined with 'real world' — articles in the Big Paper, consultancies etc. Which is all well and good, however it will just mean that the same group of people ie white, middle class background, good school and university etc will influence the political debate.

I'm sure that, via his emissiary on earth, Douglas Alexander, I will be enlightened as to the brave new radical, participative, and open democracy of the Brownian era...

... ahem.

Tags — Politics