Resources: Review - All things democratic wrapped up in anaccessible disk

Published by The Electoral Commission

Free within Wales (call 02920 346800)

Some young people will need no encouragement whatsoever to get active and interested in politics. Some will need either a key life event or perhaps a lot of engagement from committed youth workers before they see it as relevant. For the majority in the middle, this CD-Rom does a useful job of presenting information and encouragement in an accessible way to young people in Wales.

There's plenty of simply presented material on political structures from local councils though to the Welsh Assembly Government, UK Parliament and European institutions. There is also bread-and-butter stuff about how to register, how to vote, and tips on getting active through youth councils, petitions, lobby groups and so on. Useful as this is as political reference, the element that makes this just a bit different from the rest is the link into music from several young Welsh bands. Users can access music from many up-and-coming bands by simply answering five multiple choice questions correctly. These seem pitched about right: What is a ward? Who were the suffragettes? And the music is definitely worth getting into. To be honest, I'm hardly the demographic they've gone after but the delta blues of Yellowfoodfobia and the synthpop breakbeats of Serenity went down well. Young people can vote online for their favourite track and the winning band will team up with The Electoral Commission to promote Welsh Assembly Government elections in 2007.