Information Polity 9 (2004) 17–28 17 IOS Press Information management of MPs: Experiences from Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands Peter Filzmaier a,* , Kathrin Stainer-H¨ ammerle b and Ignace Snellen c a Professor for Political Sience, Department of Civic Education and Political Research, University of Klagenfurt, Austria E-mail: peter.filzmaier@uni-klu.ac.at b Research Assistant, Department of Civic Education and Political Research, University of Klagenfurt, Austria E-mail:kathrin.stainer-haemmerle@uni-klu.ac.at c Professor Emeritus of Public Administration, Erasmus University, The Netherlands Abstract. The intensity and quality of political dialogue by representatives and voters is influenced above all by the way in which representatives use the Internet. The article analyses and compares the information management of MPs of the Austrian Nationalrat, the Danish Folketing, and the Dutch Staten Generaal referring to modes of utilization (frequency, main purposes, content of mails etc.) of the Internet as well as to its importance for political communication. From the information collected the following conclusions can be drawn: – Internet use by MPs has been limited to date because of a relative lack of knowledge of the technology and the potential of the new media. – The flow of information between representatives as political elites and the public will not necessarily be improved and/or personalized through the Internet. – A permanent contact between MPs and their constituency as a form of political participation for the electorate and/or for party members depends especially on the Internet strategies of parties in parliament. Only if parties choose a “bottom-up” or grass root strategy will new technologies be used as more than just tools for internal communication within the party network. 1. Introduction In 1999, the Institute for Electronic Government in Washington D.C., which was founded by IBM Corporation, conducted a first opinion poll on “electronic democracy” among members of representative bodies in 14 European countries [2]. It showed that interactive Internet communication was used primarily for internal dialogue on draft legislation, etc., and that there was only a small measure of communication with the public or with lobbyists. Nevertheless, 74% of those surveyed believed that the Internet brought an enrichment to democracy and more than 99% of the MPs with Internet access in their offices thought that the Internet was useful. In spite of a lack of knowledge and uncertainty about * Corresponding author. E-mail: 1570-1255/04/$17.00  2004 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved