The Congressional Management Foundation has issued an interim draft report on communicating with Congress. Here’s their summary of the problem they seek to address*:

For nearly a decade, the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) has been working to improve communications between citizens and Members of Congress. We have found that the Internet has made it easier and cheaper to contact Congress than ever before. However, technological developments have been so rapid that neither citizens and the organizers of grassroots advocacy campaigns (the senders) nor congressional offices (the receivers) have learned to use it in ways that facilitate truly effective communications between citizens and Members of Congress. As a result, while more messages are being sent to Congress, it seems that less actual communication is occurring.

They are asking for intelligent comments on the report. Take a look and let them know what you think. They even have a brief survey to make that easy.

*CMF has very stern language in the report about reproducing its contents. This is a small piece of a newsworthy item, making it a fair use of their copyrighted work. They want it widely known, so they probably don’t mind anyway, but they didn’t think about that when they put in the legal boilerplate. You see the legal risks I encounter just to get you the news, though, don’t you?