This past month, the House majority leader Steny Hoyer announced the Member Online All-Star competition. The goal of this competition is for Members of Congress to gain as many followers on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube) as possible in the span of three weeks. See the action here. Social media is very useful […]
An Open Letter to Members of Congress: It’s Time for Constituent Communication to Change
In a few days, the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress will be having a hearing to discuss constituent communication on the Hill. I will not be attending, but if I was invited to testify at the hearing, this what I would say: For the past few years, I have dedicated my Ph.D. research […]
In Support of Academic Cold-Emails
This is something that I often feel like I’ve often felt people don’t do enough in academic: cold emailing. Ah, yes. Emailing people you don’t know and asking them for help. *GASP*. The Horror… Too many people feel nervous about rejection or feel too uncomfortable asking strangers for help. But in my experience, cold emailing […]
I’ve been Tweeted!
This past December, I published my work on understanding staff perceptions of constituent communication. That work was shortened into a post on the Leg Branch Capacity Working group website, and re-tweeted by my funders, the Democracy Fund. I’ve never been tweeted before ( I don’t even use a Twitter) but it feels great to see […]
I Visited 100 Offices in Congress. This Is What I Observed
Over the past three weeks, I visited 100 offices in the House of Representatives to recruit legislative correspondents to take a survey. Not all offices participated, but I still stepped into every office and chatted with every person at the front desk. Below are all the things big and small that I learned and observed.
The Problem With Constituent Correspondence. Is Technology to Blame?
Citizen contact to Member offices has consistently predicted Member’s legislative behavior and perception of the district [1]. However, recent systemic research finds very little evidence that office contact from constituents is meaningfully conveyed to policymakers [2]. This is an insightful and important finding to anyone interested in how constituents can influence Members. However, the research frames […]
Social Media and Campaign 2012: Developments and Trends for Facebook Adoption – An Personal Lit Review
I’ve read a few papers by Girish J Gulati and Christine B Williams at Bentley University. Their work on social media adoption and Congress is super helpful to my work and I’m seeing some interesting themes with Congress and trends within technology through their work. In this paper, Gulati and Williams look into the adoption […]