Michael Sandel's Reith Lecture

One of Sandel's comments at the end of his 2nd 2009 Reith lecture struck me as an interesting answer to the third question in Brokeback Bits below.

He was advocating the growth of serious political dialogue, a new citizenship, n all that. One member of the audience asked about the role of the internet and new media in this process. His response was interesting because it showed that Sandel thinks, ultimately, that we can only stretch ourselves so far before we revert to localised communities:

His reply was that, yes, the internet would of course have a major role to play in the new citizenship that he favours. But the caveat was that no universal medium will ever be able to replace face-to-face discussion. Consequently, he joins those who foresee a rise in localised political dialogue in the future. A sort of bifurcation between the big issues, being dealt with on a universal stage on the one hand; and the politics of the local taking place through the geographically segmented fora of old.

So, in Sandel's view, when it comes to political community-building, we cannot stretch ourselves infinitely thin and give up our geographical localisation. We always need a local base. But, insofar as he is sincere about the role of universal media in the future that he sees, Sandel also believse that there is a place for the geographically-blind community too.

Is this subsidarity in 21st Century community building? If so, is it likely to work? Would the different communities address only their "appropriate" issues? Would a natural sorting take place?