Congressional web sites and their potential for public dialogues

The Internet has emerged as one way that organizations can engage their publics in dialogue. The purpose of this article is to explore Congressional Web sites as spaces for government–constituent dialogue. An analysis of Congressional Web sites (N = 100) and interviews with Congressional offices (N = 32) shows that Congressional representatives recognize the value of the Internet and the World Wide Web for com-municating with constituents. However, Congressional Web sites do not appear to be facilitating dialogue between elected officials and their constituents. Interviews with legislative aides responsible for the creation and maintenance of Congressional Web sites suggest that elected officials are using their Web sites primarily as information dissemination tools. The implications for organizational communication scholars, citizens, and government officials as they consider the dialogic capacity of a mediated governmental environment are discussed. The Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) are often heralded as strategic com-munication tools. The WWW allows any type or size of organization to have an easily accessible presence in cyberspace. Small organizations and large organiza-tions alike can create Web sites to present their organization’s mission, products, or services to the world. The Internet also allows individuals and publics to more easily communicate with organizations via e-mail