The Australian citizen commenteriat is almost entirely composed of individual and group blogs; there are not the community sites like dailykos, redstate or tacitus in the Australian political arena. I was interested to read a report from 2004 on the Measures of Australia's Progress . Especially the section on civic participation as it pertains to the citizen commenteriat.

The report describes civil society as;

the groups and organisations, both formal and informal, which act independently of the state and market, to promote diverse interests in society

The report describes civic participation as;

Civic participation describes activities reflecting interest and engagement with governance and democracy, such as membership of political parties and trade unions/professional associations, or serving on committees of clubs and associations. It has been defined as a two way communication process between the government and citizens. The overall goal is for better decisions, supported by the public and fostering the increased well-being of the population.

Notice the presumption of industrial structures there; parties, unions, clubs, associations etc. Many of the Australian blogs, such as South Sea Republic, are devoted purely to political topics. There is an emergent property from these blogs continually writing on politics. The Australian blogosphere doesn't have sufficient clout yet, but some are starting to be the first step for mass media to talk to such as Irfan Yusuf and Tim Blair appearing on JJJ recently .

But that is gaining the spotlight on mass media's terms, rather than the collective weight of the blogosphere influencing government. Unfortunately it seems it is only through intense popularity that the government can be swayed and only mass media contains the number of dedicated eyeballs to affect government and maintain the bad news to the government's detriment.

The report also contains;

These activities extend social networks of those participating, and help people develop important skills for participating in democracy and governance.

A Bill of Rights has appeared on South Sea Republic, as has amendments to bills such as the Flag Act and Electoral Act . Who needs professional politicians to do legislation when that knowledge is in the civic community?