Senator Mark Warner

Transparency in Government;
Walking the Talk

“We  learned  quickly  that  much  of  governing  is  done  through  papers  and  
le9ers  passed  between  agencies  and  offices.  Scribd  lets  members  of  Congress  
easily  upload  and  share  the  documents  they  ought  to  be  sharing  with  the  
American  people  anyway.”  
 –  Riki  Parikh,  Deputy  Press  Secretary  for  Senator  Mark  Warner  
 Case Study; Senator Mark Warner

THE  SITUATION    Shortly  a:er  his  elec;on  in  November  2008,  Senator  Mark  Warner  (D-­‐
VA)  decided  that  transparency  would  be  key  in  reaching  bipar;san  consensus  on  issues  
like  healthcare  reform,  military  spending  and  mortgage  appropria;ons.  Given  the  
complexi;es  of  these  issues,  the  Senator  wanted  to  be  clear  with  Virginians  about  his  
stance,  as  well  as  the  details  of  the  bills.  He  chose  Scribd  as  the  place  to  share  both  with  
as  many  people  as  possible.    

WHAT  HE  DID    Senator  Warner  and  his  staff  uploaded  personal  le;ers  to  other  
Congressmen  and  women,  documents  explaining  healthcare  reform  in  simple  terms,  
and  organized  all  his  documents  into  themaBc  CollecBons  that  could  be  easily  shared  
by  cons;tuents  –  all  while  using  Scribd  as  the  hub  to  encourage  viral  distribu;on  of  the  
content  on  social  networks  and  blogs.  
 Case Study; Senator Mark Warner

WHY  IT  WORKED    On  health  reform,  for  example,  Senator  Warner  uploaded  
informa;on  that  was  custom  tailored  to  his  cons;tuency,  including  “How  Health  
Reform  Effects  Veterans,”  “What’s  in  Health  Reform  for  Rural  Virginia”  and  “What’s  in  
Health  Reform  for  Women.”  By  sharing  such  personalized  documents,  as  well  as  his  
own  leXers  to  other  senators,  Warner  made  bureaucraBc  issues  more  relatable  to  
supporters.  

What’s  more,  as  a  result  of  his  own  transparency,  Warner  was  able  to  rally  more  than  a  
dozen  of  his  freshman  colleagues  to  vote  for  a  series  of  addi;ons  to  health  reform  
legisla;on.  

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