About this Site

Welcome to the Senate Site. This group blog is a one-year pilot project to see if we can add something meaningful to the way people understand and participate in the policy-making process.

Worst-case scenario is that we’ve built a site that no one uses. Best case - and, we hope, a more likely scenario - is that we build something unique to enhance the level of participatory democracy in this little western republic.

We’ll see how it works out.

The site is sponsored by the Utah Senate Majority, but we've invited our colleagues across the aisle to participate as well. You can too. If you would like to write a guest blog, please drop us a line.

Keep in mind that one person's blog entry is just that; it doesn't imply endorsement by the legislative body or either caucus. You should also be aware that disagreement here - or in any other senate forum - doesn't imply enmity. Respectful, informed deliberation makes for better decisions.

We hope you enjoy the time you spend here.

[Update, 6/21/06]

As our one-year pilot project winds toward an end, here is a short collection of material relevant to this experiment.

Deseret Morning News: State Senate launches its own Web log

Stateline.org: Power blogging debuts in Utah capitol

Senator Knudson: 15 Kilobytes of Fame

A Capitol Blog: Politicians Leapfrogging Media with Blogs

E-Democracy Forum Handout: Rain on the Watershed