The Power and Politics of Blogs

The rise of bloggers raises the vexing question of why blogs have any influence at all, given their relatively low readership and lack of central organization. We argue that to answer this question we need to focus on two key factors—the unequal distribution of readers across weblogs, and the relatively high readership of blogs among journalists and other political elites. The unequal distribution of readership, combined with internal norms and linking practices allows interesting news and opinions to rise to the “top” of the blogosphere, and thus to the attention of elite actors, whose understanding of politics may be changed by frames adopted from the blogosphere.

Henry Farrell and Daniel W. Drezner (2008), “The Power and Politics of Blogs,” Public Choice, 134, 1-2:15-30.

Other Writing:

Essay

Disunited Kingdom

Britain’s political system is in crisis after Brexit. Shortly after voters decided that Britain should leave the European Union, David Cameron, the prime minister and Conservative Party leader, announced his resignation. This led to a short but vicious leadership contest, which left the ambiguous “Remain” supporter Theresa May as prime minister by default. The insecurity ...
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Interview

Interview with economist Tyler Cowen on Weaponized Interdependence, Big Tech, and Playing with Ideas

Whether it’s China’s influence over the NBA, the US ban of Huawei, or the EU courts asserting that countries can force Facebook to take down content globally, Henry Farrell has played a key role articulating how global economic networks can enable state coercion. Tyler and Henry discuss these issues and more, including what a big ...
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