Congress and the Internet

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Abstract
Information technologies have permeated society and political life. Congress also has been incorporating these new technologies as members have established their own Web sites and acquired e-mail addresses. Using a survey of congressional offices and a content analysis of congressional Web sites, we describe how Congress as an institution uses the Internet to disseminate information to the public and how individual members of Congress use the Internet and e-mail to interact with constituents. We conclude that congressional response to these technologies has been mixed and that, to the extent that members have embraced the new technologies, they have done so not to facilitate interactivity with constituents, but primarily as an extension of their strategies of advertising themselves to constituents.

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