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An article from the Washington Post - with an "inside the beltway" title: On Capitol Hill, the Inboxes Are Overflowing http://tinyurl.com/cnknu And AP around the country with "wake up Congress, serve citizens based on their preferences not excuses" headline: E-Mail Tool of Choice for Constituents http://tinyurl.com/bd7dx "You've got mail, members of Congress, about 200 million pieces of it. Nine out of 10 of those missives are e-mail, according to a report that chronicles the rapid shift from postal letters to e-mail as the means of communicating with lawmakers." In short, if there is political will, there are solutions to e-mail overload. The ability for Congress to both listen to constituents "private communication" as well as create new forms of authoritative "public" testimony online <http://dowire.org/wiki/Online_Committee_Room> are significant challenges to their relevancy to citizens in the information age. If http://Regulations.Gov can build an e-rulemaking system in the Executive Branch, then Congress will have to compete with their own forms of legitimate online participation. Channelling and measuring interest group generated online advocacy communication is only a starting point. Ultimately we need political systems that don't just generate noise and add up numbers, but democratic methods online that help us all make better decisions and in the end accommodate the will of the people. I've put up an outline for page where you are invited to add links to solutions related to e-mail overload: http://dowire.org/wiki/E-mail_overload Steven Clift http://dowire.org ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Subject: Congress Online July 2005 - New Study Released on Communicating with Congress From: "CMF's Congress Online Project" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date sent: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 08:01:39 -0400 (EDT) ------------------------------- CONGRESS ONLINE - July 11, 2005 Special Edition: New Study Released on Communicating With Congress http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/FGCHEWCEWP/ ------------------------------- CONGRESS ONLINE is sponsored by Capitol Advantage (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/LAYYEWCEWQ/), provider of online solutions and publications that facilitate civic awareness and participation. ------------------------------- NEW STUDY RELEASED ON COMMUNICATING WITH CONGRESS A new study by the Congressional Management Foundation (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/JACNEWCEWR/) documents how the Internet has changed how citizens interact with Congress, and how Capitol Hill is reacting. Communicating with Congress: How Capitol Hill is Coping with the Surge in Citizen Advocacy (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/NXWMEWCEWS/) shows that Congress received four times more postal and e-mail communications in 2004 than 1995 – 200 million last year. Other key findings include: --E-mail messages now outnumber postal communications to Congress by 10 to 1. --73% of Capitol Hill managers surveyed say their offices spend more time on constituent communications than two years ago. --79% of congressional staff surveyed believe the Internet has made it easier for citizens to become involved in public policy. --17% of House offices and 38% of Senate offices answer all incoming e-mail with e-mail. The large majority of offices respond to some or all of their e-mails with postal letters. --Personalized or individualized communications are more effective than identical form communications. For example, only 3% of staff say identical form postal mail would have "a lot" of influence on their Member of Congress if he/she had not reached a decision, while 44% report individualized postal letters would have "a lot" of influence. The report is the result of two years of research by CMF as part of a project to improve communications between citizens and Congress. The research is based on four surveys of more than 350 congressional staff from more than 200 offices, as well as focus groups and interviews with congressional staff and reviews of communications volumes from the House and Senate and individual offices. See the links below to learn more about the report: Report Overview (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/MKHHEWCEWT/) Summary of Key Findings (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/AUXMEWCEWU/) Selected Charts (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/CDGEEWCEWV/) Implications for Congress (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/IBHZEWCEWW/) Implications for Grassroots Community (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/LUBVEWCEWX/) Full Report (PDF – 754 kb) (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/IKMOEWCEWY/) ------------------------------- MAIL MANAGEMENT TRAINING FOR CONGRESSIONAL STAFF CMF will offer congressional staff new training programs in August, using our new research to provide assistance managing constituent communications. Congressional staff will learn: --The advantages of answering constituent e-mail with e-mail; --How to overcome internal office objections to making greater user of technology in the office; --The management and communications benefits of using the Internet to enhance communications to constituents; and --How to create integrated systems to make the flow of paper and electronic mail more efficient. More information on congressional staff training programs (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/GJAPEWCEWZ/) ------------------------------- ADDITIONAL RESOURCES/RESEARCH --CMF Technology Research Projects Overview (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/HZHTEWCEXA/) --General Mail/Technology Guidance (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/ANHREWCEXB/) --"Congress Online" E-Newsletter Archive of Congressional Web Site Developments (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/AOZXEWCEXC/) --Best Congressional Web Sites of 2003 (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/KDFPEWCEXD/) ------------------------------- ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER CONGRESS ONLINE highlights new and relevant Internet trends, technologies, and practices on and off Capitol Hill. If you, or another congressional office, are doing something interesting or innovative – let us know! We would be happy to consider your Web site, practice, or idea for an upcoming issue. This newsletter is a publication of the Congress Online Project, an initiative of the Congressional Management Foundation (http://capwiz.com/cmf/utr/1/AWMYEWBQHI/LUGMEWCEXE/) to study Congress' use of the Internet, identify and award best practices, and provide guidance to help congressional offices use Internet technologies to inform and communicate with constituents, reporters, and the engaged public. The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping Congress become a more productive and effective institution through better management. --- ------- End of forwarded message ------- ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - - - W: http://publicus.net Minneapolis - - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - MSN/Y!/AIM: netclift UK Office Hours - 1pm - 11pm - - T: 0870.340.1266 Join my Democracies Online Newswire: http://dowire.org *** Past Messages, to Subscribe: http://dowire.org *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To UNSUBSCRIBE instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** New RSS XML Feed Available: *** http://www.mail-archive.com/do-wire@lists.umn.edu/maillist.xml
