Government by Blogging
Moritz Leuenberger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moritz_Leuenberger), one of the seven members of the Swiss federal government ("Federal Council") has discovered Blogging as a tool of communication:
http://moritzleuenberger.blueblog.ch/
In his first entry he writes "....as a Minister also responsible for the area of Communication, I want to test if Blogging can be a good way of discussion for a Federal Councillor with the people. This can not be taken for granted. As an example, it will be not possible for me to discuss Federal Council decisions here. Max., I could explain them. I can also not disclose important projects or reviews in this blog. The public has a legal right for equal access to information. What I can do is to provide an inside view into complex issues in general..."
Then he continues with his first topic - the discussion about national energy security vs. globalised environmental issues in connection with the current discussion in parliament concerning the possible construction of gas power plants.
One of the main reasons why he writes it is not possible to discuss Federal Council decisions in the blog is that the members of the government are obliged to represent the majority decision to the public, even if they don't agree personally with it. This can happen quite often in Switzerland, as government consists of representatives from all big parties which have sometimes quite different views on issues.
Does anyone of you know other examples of "Government by Blogging"? What do you think about it?
http://moritzleuenberger.blueblog.ch/
In his first entry he writes "....as a Minister also responsible for the area of Communication, I want to test if Blogging can be a good way of discussion for a Federal Councillor with the people. This can not be taken for granted. As an example, it will be not possible for me to discuss Federal Council decisions here. Max., I could explain them. I can also not disclose important projects or reviews in this blog. The public has a legal right for equal access to information. What I can do is to provide an inside view into complex issues in general..."
Then he continues with his first topic - the discussion about national energy security vs. globalised environmental issues in connection with the current discussion in parliament concerning the possible construction of gas power plants.
One of the main reasons why he writes it is not possible to discuss Federal Council decisions in the blog is that the members of the government are obliged to represent the majority decision to the public, even if they don't agree personally with it. This can happen quite often in Switzerland, as government consists of representatives from all big parties which have sometimes quite different views on issues.
Does anyone of you know other examples of "Government by Blogging"? What do you think about it?