Abstract

This essay is an extension of recent research on nonacademic writing and represents an initial effort to explore the contexts for the letters citizens send their legislators. It focuses on only one aspect of this writing—its value. Most of the information in the essay comes from interviews with the author's state and national legislators and/or their staff. This essay suggests why the letters about political issues and personal concerns that citizens send their legislators are of great value to both the writer and the reader, and why the relationship between citizens and their public officials as writers and readers may deserve more intensive exploration.