So what is this anyway?

I was reluctant to make the Lieberman post my first foray into actual substance for a number of reasons. The first being that I have deeply ambivilant feelings about it. On the one hand I respect the voters of Connecticut and their ability to choose their representatives, on the other hand I think Senator Lieberman has been an exemplar of the kind of politician that we need to put our country on the right course. I have disagreed strongly with his stances on a variety of issues, but I still hold him in high regard. Hopefully my thoughts will become more clear in the coming weeks so I can provide a more coherent analysis of the situation.

The second is because I don't necessarily want this to be a "political" blog. By it's nature, it will deal with political issues, as all of the most imporant public issues we face have a political dimension, but I don't want to be limited to that.

So what is this if not a "political" blog? Blogs are inherently"public" spaces, able to be viewed by all. However, very few are "civic" spaces. Communitites have formed around sites like Daily Kos and TPM Cafe with users generating content, but the fact that community exists does not necessarily make the spaces "civic". The notion of what is "civic" transcends political acts and goes to the heart of what it means to be a citizen.

Too often we view our citizenship as limited to our actions in the political areana, whether we vote or not is the be all and end all of citizenship. Upon more careful relfection, we may add paying taxes to our list of "civic duties". I will certainly wrestle with the political dimension of citizenship, but I also want to address questions of how our citizenship and civic life is impacted by art, culture, and fundementally by each other.

There are a few examples of "civic" spaces in the blogosphere. A couple of my favorites come from Peter Levine of the University of Maryland and Richard Harwood of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation. I've added links to some news sources, blogs, and organizations that I think are worth taking a look at. I welcome suggestions for additions to the list.

With that, I leave you to contemplate what citizenship means to you, and what aspects are most important to your civic life. I look forward to sharing my own explorations of these questions with you, and hearing what you encounter on your own civic journey.