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To access links, see Steven Clift's blog: http://dowire.org/notes/?p=248 Post: Share Your Views - Is the US Congress empowering the voice of independent e-citizens or throwing up the "Electronic Curtain" with e-mail changes P.S. I'll be in DC next week. This sounds like an interesting topic for a lunch time discussion near Capitol Hill on Wednesday, July 19. RSVP via the wiki: http://www.dowire.org/wiki/DoWire_on_Capitol_Hill Please use the blogs comment system to share information, articles, solutions and opinions on this matter. In short, the U.S. House added a math game option for House members to use to with the web comment forms (they call them e-mail forms, but most offices reserve real e-mail access those who know staff e-mail addresses) to catch automated communication from being sent through the forms. According the Washington Post, "On a single day last week, of the 8,262 times the logic puzzle was viewed in the House, only 1,568 people answered it and moved on to send a message -- a 19 percent success rate. It's unknowable whether this means that computers could not crack the code or whether actual humans were frustrated and gave up (though there were probably a combination of both)." (Note the blog response to this article.) So here are some discussion provoking questions I hope you can answer via the DoWire blog comments: 1. Isn't empowering independent citizen communication more vital than ensuring that well organized communication from interest groups get through which is really crowding out Joe Citizen's online contact? 2. If there is a better solution, shouldn't those generating mass communication come up with technologies to help Congress better sort, understand, and respond to interest groups? 3. Is Congress building an "Electronic Curtain" around its institution, a digital Berlin wall of sorts? Why doesn't it invest in shared tools to help Members and Committees deal with legitimate constituent e-mail/web contact in an effective manner? (Or does it.) 4. What are "middle" groups like the Congressional Management Foundation and others doing to figure out this huge problem? (Disclosure: I presented to House staff via CMF on exciting e-democracy efforts of parliaments around the world last year.) 5. How about some updates from http://dontblockmyvoice.org and http://dontsilencethepeople.org ? 6. Are there any long-term open standards for electronic communication to elected officials that would allow e-advocacy solution providers to skip the forms all together and submit content into constituent management systems more directly and securely? What about open source solutions that could be shared with elected officials at all levels to make e-response easier? In short, I think the real challenge is "e-listening" and those with the intent to communicate will get through. Even if we do get in the e-door, can we make that matter more than a trip to the digital dustbin inside the Congressional office? Again, visit the blog - http://dowire.org/notes - and share your comments. No login required. If you've shared your opinion elsewhere, please drop a link in your comment. Comment Away! Steven Clift http://dowire.org *** Democracies Online Newswire - http://DoWire.Org *** To comment/for links: http://dowire.org/notes/?p=248 To network: http://groups.dowire.org Submit posts: http://dowire.org/submit Member profile for Steven: http://groups.dowire.org/main/contacts/stevenclift ----------------------------------------- Group home for Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail: http://groups.dowire.org/main/groups/newswire Replies go to members of Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail with all posts on this topic here: http://groups.dowire.org/topic/120615 For digest version or to leave Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail, email [email protected] with "digest on" or "unsubscribe" in the *subject*. Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail is hosted by Democracies Online - http://dowire.org.
