Congress Online: Bridging the Gap Between

While more than a million e-mails clog the inboxes of Congress each day, some legislators can't even find their own websites without the help of their staffers. In fact, laptops aren't even allowed on the floor of the House or Senate. But, as Dennis W. Johnson demonstrates in Congress Online, there are some savvy legislators who are taking advantage of new media to expand their power and influence-and the Congressional communications revolution is just beginning. Born out of a Pew Charitable Trusts research project of the same name, Congress Online is the definitive guide to electronic politics, pointing the way to a system that could forge a new and more immediate connection between legislators and the American people.

Dennis W. Johnson is associate dean of the Graduate School of Political Management, George Washington University

Acknowledgments	p. xi
List of Tables	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Who Uses E-mail and the Internet?	p. 4
How Congress Communicates with the Public	p. 6
Different Audiences	p. 7
Forms of Communication	p. 9
About this Book	p. 12
Wired Citizen, Wired Government
New Tools for the Active Citizenry	p. 17
Information at the Click of a Mouse	p. 19
Connecting with Other Citizens	p. 30
Direct Electronic Democracy	p. 39
The Rise of Electronic Advocacy	p. 43
Where Do All the E-mails Come From?	p. 44
The Attraction of E-mail as an Advocacy Tool	p. 47
The Perfect Communication Tool	p. 48
Websites as Advocacy Tools	p. 49
Electronic Advocacy Business	p. 57
Electronic Grassroots and Future Advocacy	p. 59
The Promise of Electronic Government	p. 61
The Transformation of Government	p. 61
State and Local Governments Go to the Web	p. 65
Promise of Websites	p. 67
Examples of Best Websites	p. 68
Opportunities and Issues with Government Websites and E-mail	p. 73
E-Democracy at the Local Level	p. 76
The Federal Government on the Web	p. 77
Opportunities and Challenges	p. 81
Electronic Government and Congress	p. 84
Congress Responds
Old Communications and New	p. 89
Adapting to New Technologies	p. 90
CyberCongress	p. 94
Internal Review and Criticism of New Technologies	p. 99
Computers, E-mail, and Websites	p. 100
The E-mail Overload	p. 107
Current State of Congressional E-mail	p. 107
Junk Mail and Congressional Spam	p. 110
Who Reads the Mail?	p. 113
E-mail Issues	p. 116
After September 11th	p. 120
Reaching Out to Constituents	p. 122
The Promise of Electronic Mail	p. 123
Congressional Websites	p. 125
Evaluating Congressional Websites	p. 126
Member Websites	p. 131
Outstanding Features	p. 133
Problems Persist	p. 141
Committee and Leadership Websites	p. 142
What Is Not on Congressional Websites	p. 144
A Congressional Portal	p. 149
Online Democracy and Communication
Challenges and Opportunities	p. 153
Spending More Time in the District	p. 153
Access to Committee Hearings	p. 155
60-Day Rule	p. 156
A Congressional Chief Information Officer	p. 158
Communicating after September 11th and Anthrax	p. 159
Digital Information	p. 163
Learning from State Legislatures	p. 165
Congress and the Deliberative Process	p. 171
A Virtual Congress	p. 175
Communicating Across the Digital Divide	p. 180
Appendices
Research Methodology and Best Practices	p. 183
Best Websites in Congress	p. 187
Other Government Websites	p. 193
Citizen-Oriented Websites	p. 197
Congressional Website Statistics	p. 199
Project Vote Smart National Political Awareness Test	p. 201
Notes	p. 205
Index	p. 235
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Congress Online: Bridging the Gap Between Citizens and Their Representatives

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