The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), a nonprofit, non-partisan organization working to improve communications between citizens and members of Congress, recently released two important documents that could have significant implications for Congress and the public. One report, Communicating with Congress: How the Internet Has Changed Citizen Engagement, reveals that the Internet has revitalized citizen communication with Congress. A draft report, Communicating with Congress: Recommendations for Improving the Democratic Dialogue, seeks public comment on a new model for constituent communications and makes specific recommendations for congressional offices, citizens, and advocacy groups.

CMF started the Communicating with Congress project to improve communications between Congress and American citizens and began extensively researching all stakeholders' problems and interests. This includes working with Congress, advocacy organizations, technology vendors, and good government organizations. CMF states, "We hope this collaborative approach will result in a new model for communications between constituents and their elected officials which will have the support and commitment of as many people as possible. It is our goal that the model we propose will, if implemented, reduce or remove the current frustrations and barriers, facilitate increased citizen participation in the public policy process, and promote a meaningful democratic dialogue that benefits our country."

CMF commissioned the Zogby International polling firm to conduct a telephone survey of over 1,000 adult Americans and an online survey from a panel of 9,500 people to learn about their interactions with Congress and their expectations. The report found that almost half of all voting age Americans contacted a member of Congress in the last five years. Unfortunately, the majority do not believe Congress is interested in what they have to say.

The Internet report has some important findings about citizens' use of the Internet to engage Congress. These include:

• The Internet has become the primary source for learning about and communicating with Congress
• Internet users who contacted Congress were motivated to do so because they cared about an issue, even if a request was made by a third party
• Information from interest groups was considered to be more credible than information from Congress
• Internet users generally felt disconnected from Congress but wanted to feel engaged
• Internet users felt strongly that advocacy campaigns are good for democracy
• Congress needs to improve online communications and needs additional resources to effectively manage Internet citizen participation
• The organizers of grassroots advocacy campaigns can help facilitate more positive communications between members and citizens, for example, messages that thank a member
• The organizers of grassroots advocacy have a duty to act as educator and facilitator

The culmination of CMF's nine-year project on communicating with Congress is a draft report for public comment, which will be followed by a final report. The draft report proposes a new model for constituent communications and includes specific recommendations for congressional offices, citizens, and advocacy groups. For example, it suggests that individual messages are more persuasive than identical form communications in grassroots advocacy campaigns. In addition, CMF recommends that constituents be adequately prepared when making calls to congressional offices. Details of this model are outlined in the draft report.

CMF has set up a ten-minute online survey to gather input on its recommendations. The deadline for completing the survey is July 18.

The draft report "concept for a new model of constituent communications relies on the development and implementation of a new dual-channel 'dashboard' view of electronic messages. Regardless of whether a message comes in through the Member's own Web form or as part of a grassroots advocacy campaign, this new model would treat all communications as individual messages from individual constituents. . . . The new model would allow offices to manage the volume without losing the meaning of the campaign or the sense of the involvement of the individual constituent behind each message."

More specifically, the model:

• Pulls all of the communications about a particular topic or advocacy campaign together;
• Can verify that grassroots communications are sent from real citizens;
• Clearly identifies the subject of messages; and
• Can identify the sponsoring organization and its vendor

These recommendations are intended to improve the current environment in which those who communicate with Congress do not think their members are interested in what they have to say and do not think their members keep them informed of what they are doing in Congress. Instead, people are relying on the organizations they trust to inform them of what is happening in Congress and to help them communicate with members.

Meanwhile, congressional staffers doubt that the constituents are actually informed on the issues they are writing about and doubt mass e-mailing campaigns include messages from real people. This results in an ineffective circle of mistrust between citizens and the offices of elected officials.

Despite the frustrations, these new findings suggest that citizens really do want to hear from and interact with their members of Congress. The CMF draft report concludes, "We can either agree to work together to develop more effective solutions to address these new challenges, or we can continue on the current and unsustainable path."