Departmental Papers (ASC)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
January 1978
Abstract
Letter-writing has traditionally been an encouraged form of expressing opinion in the United States. The oft-heard advice to "write your congressman," the space which magazines devote to correspondence they receive, and the importance that newspapers lend to their "letters to the editor" by placing them next to the editorial page seem to legitimize this form of public communication as an integral part of the democratic process. It is understandable, then, that many individuals direct letters of complaint and demand for change at organizations which they perceive as responsible to the public and important to their lives.
Date Posted: 18 January 2008
This document has been peer reviewed.

Comments
Reprinted in Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 41, Issue 4, Winter 1977-78, pages 534-543.