Dear [first_name],

I hope you enjoy this month's topics. This is your newsletter, so if you like or don't like something about it, please email us at newsletter@bullmoosemarketing.com and we will adapt. Like everything in politics and everything on the Web, we too at Bull Moose Marketing need to be flexible...

Thanks for reading,
Nick Ellinger
CEO, Bull Moose Marketing, LLC.


In this issue...

User News: How People Use Government Web Sites

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a project to gather timely reports about the impact of the Internet on American life. In April, they did a report called "The Rise of the e-Citizen" talking about how Americans use the Internet to interact with their government. Here are some key points from the study. Featured Site

The full report is available here and goes into greater depth than we can here.

Who visits government sites? 68 million adults have visited at least one government site, making government usage one of the most popular things to do on the Internet--more than instant messaging, booking travel, or seeking financial information. Compared to other Web users, government Web site users (GWUs) are 55% more likely to have college degrees and tend to have higher incomes. However, they are comparable in terms of race and gender.

Where do they go? 80% of GWUs have visited a federal site, 76% have visited a state site, and 41% have visited a local site. The low usage of local sites is two-fold: 1) lack of awareness: half of Internet users didn't know if their local government had a Web site and 2) lack of usability: 38% of those who use local sites rated them fair or poor (compared with 24% for state or federal). Interestingly, 63% of black Internet users say they have visited a local government site and 30% say that local government sites are their favorite government Web site, compared with 40% and 10% of whites, respectively.

Most GWUs are information-seekers (for example, the top information activity is getting tourism information with 77% usage and the top transaction activity is filing taxes, at 16%). The other top information-based activities are doing research for work or school (70%), learning more about an agency's services (63%), and seeking information about public policy (62%). 		Cheap plug

Raising awareness and usability is what Bull Moose Marketing does best. Give us a spin for your local, state, or federal government site.


Featured Site

Firstgov.gov is where to go if you need to find anything from the US government. Last month, we talked about the power of single-entry portals; this is the US's.


How do they get involved? One thing at which e-government has been historically poor is faciliating interaction with the governance process. There may be light at the end of that tunnel, however. About one in three GWUs has contacted a public official through a Web site and about 19% have used the Internet as part of a concerted lobbying campaign. Compare this one-third figure to the 19% of the general public who have contacted an elected offical in the last year and you see that the Internet may be facilitiating interaction after all. The most popular issues for which to lobby where the environment, education, healthcare, civil rights, and abortion.

Are users satisfied? Finally, are citizens satisfied with their government interactions on the Net? 49% of GWUs said the Internet has helped their interaction with the federal government, 45% with the state, and 30% with local. This is fairly impressive, but leaves significant room for improvement-- after all, 40% of GWUs said sites had done nothing to improve their government experience on any level. Also, about 68% of GWUs said it was easy to find information on federal or state sites, but only 46% said that about local governments.

As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Apparently, US e-governance is helping citizens interact with their government, but is doing so slowly, especially at the local level. There, local governments must to more to improve their sites and their sites' visability to make an impact.

Do you have any hints for our readers? Any questions, comments, or death threats? Please send them to newsletter@bullmoosemarketing.com.


From the Hill: E-Government Bill Passes the Senate

In late June, the Senate uninamimously passed S. 803. The goal of the bill is to make government information accesssible to the public, harness technology, and create standards for the creation of e-government. The bill, if signed into law, will:
  • authorize $345 million for an e-government fund to support interagency projects (over four years)
  • create an OMB Office of Electronic Government
  • provide near privacy protections
  • require federal courts to post opinions online
  • create and fund a federal IT professional training center
  • improve the government's centralized portal
  • and codify the Federal CIO Council responsible for sharing best practices and promoting standardization across government sites.
Other parts of the bill include community technology centers, protocols for geographic information systems, and studies of the "digital divide."

The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Fred Thompson (R-TN), and Conrad Burns (R-MT). Originally, the bill contained provisions for a federal CIO, but this position was taken out of the final bill. The House version is HR 2458.

If you need help with your e-government site, request a free consulting report from Bull Moose Marketing.

Sources:

Sirhal, Maureen. GovExec.com. "Senate Passes Bill to Create e-Government Office," June 28, 2002. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/062802td1.htm.

Tilman, Bob. Information Management Journal. "E-government Bill Waits in the Wings," May/Jun 2002.

Tilman, Bob. Information Management Journal. "The Changing Political Landscape," Jan/Feb 2002.


Quick Clicks

The quick clicks for July 2002:
  • IRS e-file. I am as surprised as anyone that a site from perhaps the most notorious bureaucracy in the US is our top quick click. But the clicks have spoken--filing online is the most popular transaction that people have had with the US government.
  • The Political Oddsmaker. Supposedly this site is right 98% of the time in picking winners of races. Perfect for the political junkie (good analysis after some races) or the gambling one.
  • The Capital Steps. Again, only for those with a sense of humor, the Capital Steps are the political version of Weird Al. If you think that's a complement (I do), try downloading some songs from this site.
If you have a site you would think should be a quick click, send it to newsletter@bullmoosemarketing.com.

You're subscribed as [email] because you have opted in to receive this at www.bullmoosemarketing.com/politics.
If you would like to subscribe, click here
If you would like to unsubscribe, email us at unsubscribe@bullmoosemarketing.com with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.

While Bull Moose Marketing and its agents used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein, Bull Moose Marketing does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident or other causes.

© 2002 Bull Moose Marketing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

You may freely distribute Bull Moose Marketing material, as long as it bears the following attribution:
Source: 2002 Bull Moose Marketing; www.bullmoosemarketing.com/politics