選區服務對立委建立個人選票影響甚鉅,然而,當電子化政府、電子化民主與網路選戰逐漸成爲政治學界關懷重視的焦點,我們認爲網際網路在代議政治領域所發揮的重要性仍待進一步解釋釐清。本文以電子郵件作爲研究對象,藉此瞭解立法委員如何利用新的溝通媒介執行其代議士的選區服務職責。透過對第六屆立法委員與選區溝通媒介使用進行分析,我們認爲在現階段電子郵件作爲一種立委與選區溝通的新媒介,對於傳統媒介在選區服務上的應用是扮演一種補充而非取代的角色。更進一步而言,多數立委辦公室已開始使用電子郵件與選區接觸,但使用情況則受到立委個人及選區因素影響而迥然有別。
This article aims to investigate the significance of internet to political campaign. Comparing with the traditional in-person constituency service, how the use of 'e-tools' affect representative politics in Taiwan remains under-explored. In order to further our understanding about how the elected officials utilize e-tools to enhance their constituency service, we focus on analyzing the emailing behavior of the legislators during the Sixth Legislature. We argue that emailing, as a new medium of communication between the legislators and their constituencies, plays merely a supplementany role in constituency service at the current stage. Our research also suggests that personal attitudes towards e-tools of the legislators and the social-economic differences among constituencies are the two important determinants of legislators' individual emailing behavior.