Oct. 16, 2001
Congress Online Analyzes Opinions of Web-Savvy Voters
Citizens Not Impressed With Congressional Web Sites
By Matthew
Nehmer
Technology-savvy citizens seeking to connect with their elected officials
via the Internet are not overly impressed with congressional Web sites.
Such is the finding of a new focus group study conducted by the Congress
Online Project, a continuing research project undertaken by GW through
its Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM), the Congressional
Management Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Drawing analysis and conclusions from 80 focus group participants, the
study attempted to answer the question, Just what does the public
want to see on congressional Web sites? What they discovered was
that above all citizens want accountability: when they visit a members
Web site they want to know what their representative is doing, how they
vote, and where to go when they have questions or problems that need
resolution.
What they dont want is fluff, says Dennis Johnson,
GSPM professor and principal investigator for the Congress Online Project.
The biggest surprise we found is that people want what very few
member sites have content.
Titled Constituents and Your Web Site: What Citizens Want to See
on Congressional Web Sites, the study reports that citizens
are used to seeing glitzy, interactive commercial Web sites. But they
dont expect that from their legislators. In fact, they were decidedly,
uniformly turned off by glitz and self-promotion. They liked seeing
a simple picture of a legislator on the home page, but criticized photos
of legislators at rallies, surrounded by balloons and babies, or even
holding press conferences on the steps of the Capitol.
Content wise, focus group participants cited voting records as the number
one thing missing from congressional Web pages. According to the study,
participants did not wish to see a list of bills that the representative
sponsored or co-sponsored, but a comprehensive list of how the member
voted followed by an explanation in understandable language of why he
or she voted that way.
I want to see their voting record on everything, and thats
going to tell me where theyre ultimately going, says a Phoenix
participant.
Having an idea of what their representative does all day was another
suggestion by participants to improve congressional Web sites.
Id like to be able to log on tonight and pull up a congressmans
schedule for tomorrow, who theyre meeting with, etc., says
a participant from Richmond. Even some follow-up, not just the
personal appearances where we may be able to see them or hear them,
but who else theyre meeting with and do they attend committee
hearings theyre scheduled to attend.
To this end, the study suggests that members should include on their
Web pages a public schedule that highlights legislative activities and
upcoming votes. member travel plans is another area where participants
wanted more information. In many peoples minds, reports
the study, when Congress is on recess, the member undoubtedly
must be off to some exotic tropical location goofing off on tax-payer
expense or on a trip funded by a powerful interest group. This
notion was discounted when participants were shown actual schedules
from member offices detailing his or her busy schedule as well as information
on travel plans, complete with explanations of why that travel is important.
A third component of congressional Web pages that participants found
lacking was an easy-to-use forum to express their views. According to
the study, participants want assurances that their views are taken
into account and acknowledged; just as importantly, they appreciate
it when a member does not agree with them and has the courtesy to tell
them so.
One suggestion finding support was an interactive online poll where
constituents could weigh-in on specific issues. Even though such polls
would not be scientifically based, participants liked the idea of having
a venue to express their views.
Id really be interested in seeing a little survey on issues
that are coming up, says a Richmond participant. Are you
in favor or not?
The study was conducted from late January through March 2001 with eight
focus groups in four cities Washington, DC, Richmond, Phoenix,
and Philadelphia consisting of citizens comfortable using the
Internet and E-mail. Half the participants were labeled as engaged
citizens, in other words they had at some time writing to their representatives
and actively followed public affairs. The other half, or the general
audience, were savvy Internet and E-mail users but not too interested
in legislative issues.
We asked the participants their views on four Web pages, giving
them 20 minutes to view each page, says Johnson. Two of
the pages were House sites, one for a Democrat member and one for a
Republican member. The other two were Senate sites, one Democrat, one
Republican.
Johnson adds that the four sites were chosen based on their look ranging
from a high-tech look with limited content to sites with a simple, handmade
look and heavy content. None of the sites chosen came from legislators
in the four states where the participants resided.
On a broader scale, in addition to communicating what citizens expected
in congressional Web sites, the report also spoke of a deep sense of
frustration by participants in Congress and the way Members communicate
with the public. Part of that frustration, and certainly we saw
it in the focus group participants, was a sense that legislators do
not keep in touch with them, reports the study, that citizens
do not receive timely answers to questions, and that there is a communications
barrier between Washington and people back home. Well-designed, content-rich
Congressional Web sites, attuned to the needs of the public, can help
mitigate that sense of frustration, while poorly designed sites that
dont consider the needs of constituents in fact may reinforce
that sense of frustration and disconnect.
The report in its entirety can be found at www.congressonlineproject.org.
The Congress Online Project is a two-year program funded by The Pew
Charitable Trusts and conducted jointly by GW and the Congressional
Management Foundation, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides
management publications, programs, and services for House and Senate
offices. The projects mission is to improve electronic communication
between members of Congress and the public by examining the use of Web
sites and other forms of online communications by congressional offices.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu