*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** Ensuring that e-mail between elected officials and citizens is an effective means of communication is the number one Internet issue facing representative democracy. I visited with the Congressional Management Foundation in DC on Monday and I read their excellent report (see announcement below) on the flight home. While the report is focused on the U.S. Congress, it provides a solid foundation that should be leveraged to address this challenge in parliaments, legislatures, and local councils around the world. If you know of any governmental organization anywhere that has implemented advanced e-mail response systems let me know: [EMAIL PROTECTED] After the Democracies Online online event on the Internet and democracy in Asia this Spring <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, let's organize a global discussion on efforts to solve the great representative democracy e-mail crisis. To reserve your spot, send an e-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Below the report announcement <http://www.congressonlineproject.org> is a collection of links to media reports generated by the study. Steven Clift Democracies Online http://www.e-democracy.org/do ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2001 13:29:07 -0400 From: Kathy Goldschmidt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: E-mail Overload in Congress Just wanted to let you know about the recently-released first report from the Congress Online Project: "E-Mail Overload In Congress: Managing a Communications Crisis," <http://www.congressonlineproject.org/email.html>. Though this report is targeted toward the U.S. Congress, the guidance applies to other legislative bodies, as well. It contains the following sections: **The Problem -- a description of the reason for the current e-mail overload in Congress; **Obstacles to Automating E-mail -- the five most common reasons cited by congressional offices who resist automating their e-mail systems and responding to e-mail with e-mail and the solutions for each; **Reasons for Automating E-mail -- the compelling reasons for congressional offices to be responding to e-mail more efficiently and effectively; **Four Key Principles of an Effective E-mail System -- a description of the simple management principles for overcoming e-mail overload; and **Options for Automating E-mail -- the options available to congressional offices (and others) for more effectively processing e-mail. In addition, the report describes a “code of conduct” for grassroots lobbyists that would greatly reduce the "spamming" of congressional offices with non-constituent e-mail, and it provides guidance to help citizens more effectively communicate with congressional offices via e-mail. The Congress Online Project (http://www.congressonlineproject.org) is a joint research project of the Congressional Management Foundation and The George Washington University to study the use of Web sites and Internet technologies by U.S. congressional offices, including Member offices, committees, and leadership offices. The project is being funded by a two-year grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts. Thanks! Kathy Goldschmidt Director of Technology Services Congressional Management Foundation SLC NOTE: It is good to see some extensive politics online coverage again that gets to the heart of the matter - governance and not just coverage on elections and the Net. Some articles on this report: As e-mail floods in, Congress tunes out By Peter Nicholas Inquirer Washington Bureau http://inq.philly.com:80/content/inquirer/2001/04/08/front_page/EMAIL08.htm Congressional offices struggle with growing amount of e-mail AP http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/03/18/congress.e.mail.ap/index.html Study Finds U.S. Capitol Faces E-Mail Crisis By Adam Entous Reuters http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010318/pl/congress_email_dc_1.html Most e-mail to Congress is ignored; lawmakers overwhelmed, study says Flooded by spam, politicians reply by snail mail if at all By Brock N. Meeks MSNBC http://www.msnbc.com/news/540014.asp?cp1=1 Congress Flails in E-Mail Tidal Wave By Keith Dawson Industry Standard http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,22971,00.html TheStandard.com To Be Like Congress, Ignore This E-Mail By Deborah Asbrand http://biz.yahoo.com/st/010319/22951.html The spamming of Washington: Pushing a button doesn't make democracy wired Netpulse Soundoff http://netpulse.politicsonline.com/soundoff.asp?issue_id=5.07 U.S. Congress And Email Slashdot Discussion http://slashdot.org/articles/01/03/19/1432238.shtml E-mail is not rocket science By By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, Sm@rt Partner http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/zd/20010326/tc/e-mail_is_not_rocket_science_1.html *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
