Representative Ray Cox does not considerhimself particularly computer savvy. In

2002, he had just won election to the Min-nesota House by 20 votes in a very competi-tive race—his district leans Democrat andhe’s a Republican. He wanted a way to reachout and interact with his constituents, so hedid what few others would have done in that

situation—he started a blog.Blogs—short for “Web logs”—are online

public journals documenting a person’s dailythoughts, experiences and positions onissues. Cox, who didn’t use the Internetmuch and thought most Web pages werecold and impersonal, heard about blogs froma friend who, after a bit of coaxing, got himup and running.

He had expected his opponents might usehis blog entries against him in the 2004 elec-

tion, and indeed, “they were pretty brutal,”Cox says. He won reelection, however, by600 votes, which he considers a huge marginin his district. “In this kind of race it’s evenmore important to use the blog to get theinformation out to voters, and to get it tothem in a timely fashion.”

Blogs first appeared about a decade ago,but they gained prominence in the 2004presidential elections as a vehicle for candi-dates and pundits reporting on the elections.Howard Dean used the Internet, and his Blogfor America, to raise more money than anyother Democratic candidate. Blogs are saidto have influenced the stock market on elec-tion day, based on their (inaccurate) report-ing of early exit poll results. The power ofblogs also became evident when blogsexposed CBS News’ false reporting aboutPresident Bush’s National Guard documents.

According to a Pew Internet and AmericanLife Project survey, 32 million Americans

22 STATE LEGISLATURES MARCH 2005

I BLOG, YOU BLOG, WE ALL BLOGState lawmakers are beginning to see the advantages of having a blog to record their views on

issues and their experiences at the statehouse.

By Pam Greenberg

Pam Greenberg tracks legislative information technologyissues for NCSL.

Minnesota Representative Ray Cox has turned into an accomplished “blogger” with his Web log journal that keeps himin touch with constituents.

were blog readers by the end of 2004. Thesurvey also found that 62 percent of Internetusers were not quite sure what the term“blog” means. But that’s changing: Blogreadership grew 58 percent just during 2004.Seven percent of users—some 8 million peo-ple—have created their own blog. And thereis some evidence that those who read andwrite blogs may be more politically influen-tial than average citizens.

State lawmakers are beginning to see theadvantages of having a blog to record theirviews on issues and their experiences at thestatehouse. Although there’s no officialcount of the number of state legislators withblogs, the Minnesota House may be able toclaim more than any other state. SeveralHouse members were among the first in the

nation to have blogs, including Representa-tive Cox, who has been making weekly ormore frequent entries since he started hisblog in December 2002.

Representative Stephen Urquhart of Utah,who started his blog in late 2004, like Cox,considered how it might affect his chancesat reelection. “This site does create a recordthat any future political opponent can pickthrough to find choice nuggets. But I thinkfully informed voters do just fine. I’m goingto lay out my thinking in great detail andinvite voters to inspect it and elect me ifthey like it or throw me to the curb if theydon’t. I don’t plan on fooling anyone … onthis site, you get Urquhart.”

Urquhart’s main purpose in maintaining ablog is to provide people friendly access toUtah government, to give them the “insidescoop” on the issues, and to get feedbackfrom them. But blogs also can give legislatorsa chance for their voice to be heard on issuesthe media doesn’t cover. When the DeseretNews published an article about potentialconflicts of interest by legislators, claimingthat “not one” of the nine private practiceattorneys in the Utah Legislature had filed

MARCH 2005 STATE LEGISLATURES 23

TECHNOLOGY HELPSTRACK BLOGS

Because blogs are updated so fre-quently, it can be time-consuming to visitfavorite Web pages repeatedly to checkfor new blog entries. An Internet programcalled an RSS (Really Simple Syndicationor Rich Site Summary) aggregator ornews reader can make it easy for blogreaders. The program checks Web pagesautomatically for new content and dis-plays the headlines of new entries.

Several state legislatures also are begin-ning to use RSS to provide legislators andcitizens with notices about hearings, leg-islative news, bill status, or new publica-tions or Web content. For example, Utahprovides bill status and committee newsfeeds (users select bills or committees theywish to track). The Legislative ReferenceBureaus in Hawaii and Wisconsin provideRSS feeds for new publications. TheLouisiana House sends out news updatesvia RSS. The Texas Legislature providesfeeds for bill text, fiscal notes, bill analy-ses, and schedules and calendars.

REPRESENTATIVE

STEPHEN URQUHART

UTAH

N E W S.WE CAN'T READ IT FOR YOU. BUT WE'VE DONE THE NEXT BEST THING.

The day’s top state and national policy news clippings are now in one place:

www.ncsl.org/grasscatcher

Grasscatcher a service of NCSL's State Legislatures magazine.

disclosure forms that listed clients by name,he used his blog to rebut the claim and tolist the names again in his blog, “for all theworld to see.”

Blogs also serve as a forum for legislatorsto express their point of view at other timeswhen they might not be given a voice. Mary-land Delegate Sandy Rosenberg’s blog relatesan argument he wished he could have madeon the floor in response to a fellow legisla-tor’s comment on a medical malpractice bill.

There are numerous blogs that cover localpolitics or statehouse activities, such as theBlog for Iowa (“the official weblog of Democ-racy for Iowa, an Iowa grassroots progressivegroup”); The Buckeye Institute Blog (“Up tothe Minute Analysis of Ohio Public Policy”);Colorado Pols (“Colorado Politics, News, andInside Information; The Hall Monitor, theVermont Press Bureau’s coverage of the StateHouse; and Utah Policymaker (“a politicalblog written by elected officials and opinionleaders”). There are also innumerable blogsby individuals commenting on political orlegislative activities, ranging from insightful,informative and uplifting to juvenile, cynicalor downright malicious.

Some commentators speculate aboutwhether blogs increase political partisanshipand polarization. New York Times columnistAlan Wolf considers blogs to be “all ‘gotcha’commentary and attributions of bad faith”with “no emotion…[that is] too angry andno exaggeration too incredible.” DanielDrezner, a professor of political science atthe University of Chicago who has exploredblogs and their influence on politics, notesthat some partisan bloggers focus on politi-cal events that reinforce their own opinionsand ignore those that might underminethem. But Drezner and Henry Timber, co-authors of a recent paper, “The Power andPolitics of Blogs,” also note that blogging is“politically important in large part because itaffects mainstream media, and helps set theterms of political debate…”

Urquhart also lauds the broader “universeof thought” that blogs open up for readers.“Though government keeps getting biggerand more complex, technology increasinglyallows my constituents to inform them-selves, contact me, monitor my votes, andsupport me or throw me out of office. Andthey can do all this by themselves—withoutrelying on the traditional information filtersof media and political consultants or interestgroups.”

Assemblywoman Loni Hancock of Califor-

nia established her blog to communicatewith constituents on major issues addressingher district, such as casino gambling, fund-ing for reconstruction of the Bay Bridge, andpublic financing of elections. Hancockreceives feedback on many of her blogentries, and highlights blog responses andnews articles she feels are particularly rele-vant. Representative Cox also emphasizesthat he receives feedback from constituentson all sides of the issues.

The Internet has created many new waysof communicating, creating opportunitiesfor lawmakers and citizens to feel theirvoices are being heard. Just what effect polit-ical blogs will have on civic participation

and just how many state legislators will takeadvantage of this new medium is unclear.

But to some, like Robin Cook, formerleader of the British House of Commons, theoutlook is optimistic: “There is a connectionwaiting to be made between the decline indemocratic participation and the explosionin new ways of communicating. We neednot accept the paradox that gives us moreways than ever to speak, and leaves the pub-lic with a wider feeling than ever before thattheir voices are not being heard.

The new technologies can strengthen ourdemocracy, by giving us greater opportuni-ties than ever before for better transparencyand a more responsive relationship betweengovernment and electors.”

MARCH 2005 STATE LEGISLATURES 25

SEE FOR YOURSELFTake a look at the blogs mentioned in

this article.

Representative Stephen Urquhart, Utahwww.steveu.com

Delegate Sandy Rosenberg, Marylandhttp://delsandy.com

Representative Ray Cox, Minnesotahttp://raycox.net

Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, Californiahttp://lonihancock.blogspot.com

Blog for Iowa www.blogforiowa.com

The Buckeye Institute Blogwww.buckeyeinstitute.org

Colorado Polshttp://coloradopoliticalnews.blogs.com

The Hall Monitorwww.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/

section?category=LEGISLATURE02

Utah Policymaker www.utahpolicymaker.com

Links to other state legislators’ blogsare listed on the NCSL Web site atwww.ncsl.org/ programs/lis/nalit/blogs.htm

BLOGS REACHINFLUENTIALS

Those who wish to reach the peoplewho influence everyone else must

look to the Internet, says a study by theGeorge Washington University’s Institutefor Politics, Democracy and the Internet.The study, “Political Influentials Online inthe 2004 Presidential Campaign,” foundthat Americans who are politically activevia the Internet are almost seven timesmore likely than the average American toserve as opinion leaders among friends,relatives and colleagues. Far more of thesepeople read or post comments on politi-cal blogs than the average citizen does.These “online political citizens” also aremore likely to write or call a politician;attend a political rally, speech or orga-nized protest; attend a public meeting ontown or school affairs; or write a letter tothe editor or call a live radio or TV show toexpress their opinion. They are also morelikely than average citizens to donatemoney to political candidates.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN

LONI HANCOCK

CALIFORNIA