Congressional Management Foundation - Communicating with Congress: Recommendations for Improving the Democratic Dialogue

Communicating with Congress: Recommendations for Improving the Democratic Dialogue

overview

After nearly 10 years of research, outreach, and study of the communications between citizens and Congress, CMF released the culminating report, Communicating with Congress: Recommendations for Improving the Democratic Dialogue, with recommendations for all stakeholders and suggested improvements to the structure and processes for managing congressional communications. Highlights include:

Discussion of the challenges citizens, Members of Congress, and grassroots advocates face which threaten the effective exchange of ideas;

Details about the processes used to facilitate electronic communications between citizens and their representatives in Congress;

Recommendations to each stakeholder group – including citizens, grassroots advocates, Congress, and the vendors that provide services to each group – for changing their practices to help improve the democratic dialogue;

Presentation of a new model for these communications which would ease administrative burden, improve communication, and help facilitate more meaningful dialogue about public policy.

CwC: Recommendations for Improving the Democratic Dialogue

Read the full report: CWC_RecommendationsReport (3.5 MB)

69 pages
Copyright 2008 by the Congressional Management Foundation
ISBN: 1-930473-94-X

**About the Communicating with Congress Project**

Project Overview – In 2001, CMF began work on this project to improve communications between citizens and Members of Congress.

How Capitol Hill is Coping with the Surge in Citizen Advocacy – A report on congressional staffs' views of constituent communications based on focus groups, interviews, and surveys of 350 House and Senate Staff in 200 offices.

Conference on Constituent Communications: Dispelling Myths and Discussing Solutions – A forum in which more than 200 experts and stakeholders from both sides came together to share perspectives and discuss possible solutions.

How the Internet Has Changed Citizen Engagement – A report on citizens' views on communicating with Congress based on nationwide telephone and online surveys of citizens.

Recommendations for Improving the Democratic Dialogue – This report is the culmination of CMF's nine years of research, outreach, and study, with recommendations for all stakeholders on how to improve communication between citizens and Congress.

Navigating the Rising Tide of Grassroots Advocacy – CMF offers educational presentations for grassroots/advocacy organizations on the topic of how to effectively communicate with Congress.