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List of contents
1. The Transformation of Congressional Communication: From Legislative Correspondence to Multimedia Marketing
2. A Historical Overview of Congressional Communication
3. "What Hath God Wrought?" The Development of House Information Technology and the Implications of the Digital Age for Congressional Communication
4. Website Accessibility in the U.S. House of Representatives
5. Website Accessibility in the U.S. Senate
6. Congressional Use of Content Management Systems
7. Being Heard and Not Seen: The Congressional Tele-Town Hall as the Public Meeting of the Future
8. Congressional Websites, Constituent Communication, and Representation: Where Do We Go from Here?
About the author
Jocelyn Evans is the Associate Dean for the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, USA. She isFull Professor of political science with a PhD from the University of Oklahoma. Her research interests include congressional politics, democratic theory, civic space,and political science education.
Jessica Hayden is a PhD student and Congressional Fellow at the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
Summary
Evans and Hayden offer a fresh, timely, and mixed-methods approach for understanding how the emergence of virtual offices has impacted the representational relationship between constituents and members of Congress.
Additional text
'In this important and insightful analysis, Evans and Hayden explain how Members of Congress use today's technology to communicate with their constituents—including emails, websites, and the Internet—placing new demands on the discharge of representative duties.' - Louis Fisher, Scholar in Residence at the Constitution Project
'This book provides an important and thoughtful account of how members of Congress have used digital technologies to shape communications with their constituents. It combines historical analysis, interviews, and a wealth of data to provide a fresh perspective on how national lawmakers use their office websites to carry out their roles, while exploring how their use of these technologies impacts the character and quality of representation in Congress.' - Gary Malecha, Professor of Political Science, Univeristy of Portland
'Evans and Hayden demonstrate that legislative communication practices decisively affects congressional representation. Their opening historical review of Congress regularly responding to changing media environments lays the groundwork for their analysis of contemporary, digitally mediated member-constituent interactions. They conclude by considering whether today’s discourse enhances genuine deliberation or encourages a market-oriented messaging that treats citizens as customers. Those interested in the Congress, political communication, and in the nature of representation will all learn something important from this fine book.' - Daniel J. Reagan, Professor and Chair, Political Science, Ball State University, and co-author of The Public Congress: Congressional Deliberation in a New Media Age
