State of blogging: lawmakers are creating blogs to get their constituents involved.

• Author: Jackson, Nancy Mann

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In some places, legislators are "Very Big Deals" and regularly quoted in the local media, says Virginia Delegate Kristen Amundson. But as a representative for the suburbs of Washington, D.C., her local media has bigger fish to fry.

"Voters are never going to read about me in The Washington Post," Amundson says. "So if I believe that communication with voters is part of my job, and I do, then blogging has to be part of that effort."

But even legislators who are featured in the local news find that maintaining a blog offers a more authentic way to communicate with their constituents beyond the filter of the media. "With all the complaints about media bias from the left and the right, [blogging] gives me an opportunity to speak directly to the constituent and encourages voters to get more involved in the legislative process," says Georgia Representative Steve Davis.

Increasing numbers of legislators are launching blogs to make their voices heard and create ongoing conversations with their constituents.

"I started my blog as a way for my constituents to read what was going on inside the Georgia General Assembly as it happens," Davis says. He's also aware that people are becoming more technologically savvy and wanted to be out front in reaching constituents online.

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Engaging citizens in government is reshaping the way government works. The interactive tools offered by Web 2.0, the new incarnation of the Internet, make it easy for government executives to engage their constituents, and a growing number of lawmakers are making blogs part of their strategies for connecting with citizens. Still, the practice is fairly uncommon.

"We're at the early stages by any measure," says David Wyld, author of The Blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of Web 2.0, a report published by IBM's Center for the Business of Government.

But in five to 10 years, says Wyld, who is a professor of management at Southeastern Louisiana University, "blogging and other interactive Web tools will just be part of the ratcheted-up expectations people have for their governments."

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WHY BLOG?

For most lawmakers who take the time to blog, the exercise is more than simply creating an online journal. The most effective blogs encourage readers to join the discussion. They are undertaken by officials who aim to elicit constituents' ideas so they may lead a government that is genuinely "of the people."

"Blogging is simply another way to communicate...