Report Slams Congressional Web Sites
Nextgov.com reports that most congressional Web sites lack input from constituents, are not created with the visitor in mind and are at most a second priority in politicians' offices, according to a report the Brookings Institution recently released.
"The extent to which legislators fail to better exploit these technologies reflects a failure of our democratic institutions themselves," said the study's authors, Kevin Esterling, an associate professor at the University of California at Riverside; David Lazer, an associate professor at Northeastern University; and Michael Neblo, an assistant professor at Ohio State University.
The researchers interviewed 99 congressional staffers who had responsibility for their office's Web site in 2006. The researchers also ranked all House and Senate sites for nearly 100 points of operational criteria, including tracking issue information, constituency services and use of technology such as blogs. The criteria were developed in collaboration with the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonpartisan advocacy group that works to make Congress more effective.
Although much of the research was conducted nearly four years ago, Esterling said the results are still valid and the sites "don't change that much." Congressional staff in 2006 did not think it was worthwhile to communicate with each other, an attitude that continues today, he added. While the sites have improved, they still are not as well-designed, user friendly or interactive as Web sites operated by some news organizations and e-commerce, Esterling said.
"Congressional Web sites lag the ones you find elsewhere," he said. To read more, click here.
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