Though most bloggers use their blog as a hobby to discuss knitting or baseball
scores, nearly 1.4 million blogs contain purely political information (Lenhart and Fox
2006). A subset of political bloggers devotes single-minded attention to one particular
policy proposal, rather than a broad spectrum of political interests. These policy bloggers
use the medium of Internet to provide them with a unique advantage. Though they are
small in number, these bloggers may represent the vanguard of policy advocacy and a
successful niche within the Internet. They have harnessed the Internet to champion their
cause, to network with others, to influence political elites, to inform the public, and,
perhaps, to make real change.
Through the use of content analysis and interviews, this paper investigates the
work of policy bloggers. Who are these policy bloggers? Why did they choose the
Internet, rather than traditional venues, to make change? How have they used the Internet
to promote their pet causes? What obstacles have they faced? What successes can they
claim? Can these bloggers be described as policy entrepreneurs, the key individuals that
John Kingdom explains are the necessary source of policy change?
Findings show that most policy bloggers are highly educated, but aren’t among
the most influential in their policy areas; they are a substrata of policy elites. Policy
bloggers all engage in six activities on their blog: filtering information, providing
expertise, forming networks, gaining attention, framing arguments, and using windows of
opportunity. They rarely urge their readers to partake in political activity. Nearly all
received attention from major media sources and some gained a significant daily
readership. Despite these victories, their blogs were primarily labors of love, bringing in
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Convention