To: The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress

From: Claire Abernathy, Stockton University; Kevin Esterling, University of California, Riverside; and Marci Harris, POPVOX

Reform: Congress, Technology, and Innovation


A Report of the the Subcommittee on Congressional Capacity of the American Political Science Association Presidential Task Force Project on Congressional Reform[1] All recommendations of the American Political Science Association Presidential Task Force Project on Congressional Reform represent the views of its participants, not of the American Political Science Association. (A PDF copy of this document may be downloaded here.)

Congress is struggling to keep pace with increasingly rapid technological advances. It lacks the expertise to identify good policy solutions to regulate or promote effective use of emerging technologies, and the institution has failed to invest in developing this necessary knowledge. Additionally, Congress has not adopted new tools and technologies that could better support its internal operations.

To address these deficiencies, Congress must expand its capacity. It must embrace new technology and institute innovative practices that will allow it to solicit input from a broader array of sources, giving members and staffers the information necessary to understand and develop policy that can keep pace with a rapidly-changing world. The legislative branch must invest in improving its own use of technology by upgrading tools currently in use and, importantly, by instituting processes for ongoing review and coordination to identify and implement tools and technologies to support its multifaceted work.

In this report, the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation recommends… (Read more)

 

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Topics: Congress & Technology