K Street Cafe

Originally published on PMPU.org.

Clay Johnson, formerly of the Sunlight Foundation, wrote in his blog recently that “online petitions are a sham.”  He even used some of our data about congressional mail volumes to help make his point.  While I think that he makes some really keen observations and puts his finger on some of the key challenges, not all online advocacy is the same.

The Congressional Management Foundation has done research with both the senders (citizens) and the receivers (congressional offices) and majorities of both believe that advocacy campaigns are good for our country.  In fact, 73% of internet users who had contacted Congress in the last five years confirmed that they thought advocacy campaigns were good for Democracy.  On the Hill, 53% of the congressional staff that responded to our survey confirmed that even they (the ones on the front lines of helping Members manage communications) thought that advocacy campaigns directed at Congress were a good thing.

What’s more, our survey of internet users found that interest groups played an integral role in how citizens learn about and communicate with Congress.  Citizens join interest groups, visit their websites, and participate in their online petitions to learn about the issues they care about and to take collective action.  However, interest groups need to realize that they occupy a key role in the connection between their activists and the Members of Congress who represent them.  With that role comes responsibility.  On the Hill, congressional staff do not have the tools that they need to quickly distill meaning from the overwhelming volume of communications that they receive on any given day.

Clay is right that there are bad actors that don’t have the facilitation of genuine dialogue as their primary motivation.  However, we can’t let a minority of interest groups negate the critical and valuable—both to citizens and Congress—role that interest groups and grassroots advocates play.  He’s also right that there are currently some significant obstacles to meaningful communication.

It is specifically because there are these challenges, that we recently launched The Partnership For a More Perfect Union to help improve the relationship and communication between citizens and Members of Congress.  Through the Communicating with Congress Project we are seeking ways to improve the channel of communication between citizens and their elected officials because it’s good for citizens, Members, and democracy.

Smartphones Nearly 20% of All Phones Sold
(Advocacy 2.0)
Smartphones sales are steadily rising, emphasizing the importance of going mobile.

FEMA Gets a New Website (Tech President)
FEMA unveils minimalist design aimed at promoting emergency preparedness.

Originally published on PMPU.org.

The Congressional Management Foundation and its Partnership for a More Perfect Union present “Inside the Hill”, a web series that allows you to hear directly from Members and staff on how technology is changing the way Congress works. It is produced by Fleishman-Hillard.

In the third installment, “How and Why Does Congress Use Twitter,” congressional staff discuss the different uses and advantages of Twitter.

Previous editions of “Inside the Hill” are also available:

Congress and New Media: The World Has Changed

What Makes An Award Winning Website

Can Case Studies and Code Chunks Help Open the Democratic Party? (Tech President)
The Democratic National Committee unveils new open-source site Open.Democrats.org aimed to increase transparency & collaboration online.

More Bloggers Throwing Hats in Ring (Politico)
Bloggers assert their power in the political arena beyond the web by running for office.

TBD.com: A First Day Look (The Huffington Post)
Local DC news site TBD.com serves as a canary in the mine for the future of journalism.

Web Plan From Google and Verizon Is Criticized
(The NY Times)
Internet regulation plan from Google and Verizon proves worrisome for some.

Republicans Debut “V1,” the New New GOP.com
(Tech President)
Republicans unveil new website with three months to go until mid-term elections.

In Congress or on Digg, Politics Is Politics (The Atlantic)
Alleged conspiracies online, such as Journolist and Digg, may not differ much from the reality of Washington.

Immigration has risen again to the top of the list of issues eliciting citizen engagement with Congress in July. The issue has dominated throughout the past three months, ranking number one in May and coming in third for June.

Data from the Congressional Conversation Index (CCI) shows that concern over immigration has risen by roughly 53% in the past month, presumably due to continuing debate over Arizona’s controversial immigration law (SB107). Representatives received an average of 145 recorded emails, letters or calls regarding the issue throughout the month of July.

The CCI is a monthly compilation, put together by DC-based firms Adfero Group and Fireside 21, of the top issues Congress hears about from their constituents. Last month, energy and the environment topped the charts due to the after-effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Numbers have decreased dramatically in recent weeks, as BP officials appear to have contained the spill. In July, the top issues in the CCI were (1) Immigration (2) Health Care (3) Abortion + Womens Issues (4) Tax (5) Energy (6) Financial Services (7) Labor (8) Animals (9) General Government Issues (10) Foreign Affairs. Full CCI data is available below.

(more…)

Will Social Security Get Social Media in the Government 2.0 Age? (The Huffington Post)
The Social Security Administration looks into the possibility of adopting social media in accordance with open government plan.

Can Social Media Save the World? Some Nonprofits Give it a Try. (The Christian Science Monitor)
A look at how a few nonprofits are harnessing the power of social media to promote their cause.

Gowalla Gets Political (Examiner)
Gowalla invites politicians to educate voters and stay connected by opening up “Events” feature.

MSNBC.com’s EveryBlock Targets A Widget At Local News Blogs (PaidContent.Org)
The EveryBlock hyperlocal news app from MSNBC.com taps into local blogs to aggregate local community news and events.

Forbes Blogs to Get a Big Upgrade, Every Reporter Will Have One (Advocacy 2.0)
Forbes.com re-launched yesterday, requiring each reporter to maintain their own blog.

Twitter’s Too Much for the Senate (Tech President)
Is the modern media environment contributing to the radicalizing of government?