Edelman‘s 2011 Capital Staffers Index finds an increase in Twitter use and influence in policymaking here and overseas. According to the research, 53 percent of lawmakers are using Twitter, up from 38 percent last year. Sixty percent of staffers are using Twitter. All of this coincides with the increase in Twitter use among constituents.

The Internet at large is also playing a bigger role in the policy process, with 60 percent of staffers saying they learned about an issue online and one-third saying they’ve changed their minds based on what they’ve seen online.

Still, grassroots efforts are still important, with a failure in that area thought to be a big contributor to a failure of the larger campaign.

The research is based on interviews with 542 senior staffers across 11 countries. Click here for the press release about the study. And after the jump, we have an infographic.