Preparation

This template is meant to help your office plan for events you want to host. 

To download the template in a Word document, please click here.

To download the template in a Word document, please click here.

I recently had an irresistible proposition for a member of Congress: "What if I could show you a technology which, in one hour, would make thousands of your constituents consider you accessible and fair, increase their trust in your judgement, and triple your approval rating on one of the toughest issues Congress faces?"

CMF partnered with AmericaSpeaks to showcase a model that Members can utilize to conduct large-scale, deliberative discussions with constituents that promote a meaningful dialogue.

Download the slides from the congressional briefing:  as-cmf-town-hall-slides  (1.07 MB)

This report summarizes the findings and recommendations from a study of 21 online town hall meetings between Members of Congress and their constituents which were facilitated by the Congressional Management Foundation and our academic research partners.

The report was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and contributions from Harvard's Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

• Online Town Hall Meetings: Exploring Democracy in the 21st Century (1 MB)

Key Findings:

• Trust in the Member of Congress increased by 14 percentage points.
• Participants were more likely than non-participants to describe the Member of Congress as "accessible," "fair," and "compassionate."
• When asked whether the participants trusted how the Member of Congress handled the issue discussed ("immigration," not exactly a softball topic), 58% "approved" after the session, compared to 20% before the session.
• These sessions were more likely than traditional venues to attract people from demographics not traditionally engaged in politics and people frustrated with the political system.
• 95% of participants agreed that such sessions are "very valuable to our democracy" and that they would be interested in doing similar online sessions for other issues.
• Participation in the town hall increased citizen engagement in politics. Not only were they more likely to vote and follow elections in the news, they were more likely to try and persuade others to vote.