Good for Democracy?

Politicians fall behind in online race, reported Reuters last week. Personally I like ZDNet’s headline, reporting on Reuter’s story, better: Politicians struggle to make Net impact. Makes it sound more dramatic!

Anyways, the theme in the article is as usual: Politicians are trying to make use of social networking tools for electioneering purposes – they fail to do it properly – they need to move more towards interactivity and user generated content – the same stuff we always hear.

Then director of e-Democracy at the Hansard Society, a charity that promotes democracy, says:

“Despite teething troubles, advances in digital television, mobile phones and the Internet will "pump the lifeblood" of politics. There is no reason why politicians, parliaments and governments should resist technology. It will make them better connected, it will make them more accountable, it will make the process more transparent.”

“Perhaps you might begin to see turnouts at elections rise”

And that’s an interesting point we want to know more about and look into. I guess it’s still too early to tell yet, but I am also looking into it. If anyone has any statistics, please let us know.

PS: you are not just a celebrity Parker, you are my personal hero! Awesome interview.

Update: Also, check out this article, Blogs brought a new dimension to election, discussing the impact of blogs on the recent Kansas City election.