citizen engagement

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.

• When constituents visit your website, your views on any hot topic should be easy to find. Your positions on controversial, much-discussed issues should be staring the constituent in the face. Don’t make the constituents work, such as forcing them to scroll down to the bottom of the page, or click on nebulous category headings (such as “Senator’s views,” or “Press”) to find out what you think about these issues. Plainly list the hot topics of the day, such as Medicare reform or prescription drug coverage, in a prominent place on your home page and have links to your views.
• Consider including a comment form on your website close to your thoughts on Medicare reform, so constituents can register their views – without requiring a reply. Make it clear that it’s a comment form only and the office will not reply to their comments. In some offices the Congressional Management Foundation has worked with up to 10 percent of constituents chose this option.
• Set up email rules to route clear hot topics, such as Medicare or prescription drugs, to folders for quick sorting. Some offices can do this with their web forms – others can apply the rules through their correspondence management system software. This way whoever sorts through your mail won’t have to waste time hunting through thousands of emails to batch similar subjects together.
• Staff who answer the phone can lighten the mail load by answering constituent’s simple question (“how will he/she vote”) during the phone call. When constituents call your office, they are not only sending you message about how to vote, they’re sending a message in what form they would like a response. Callers want an answer immediately, emailers want a response within hours, letter writers expect an answer within a few weeks. Don’t add to the volume by sending a letter to every caller. It’s OK, even desirable, to collect their name, address, and email address for a future communication – and if you have the resources, by all means send them a message. But it’s much better to give a caller an immediate answer than sending a letter in a month or two. (And let’s be honest folks, you’re not going to get to that mail until after Thanksgiving.)
• If you anticipate that your office will be overwhelmed by calls, set up a temporary comment line for constituents to leave messages and their email address. Comment lines save staff time, and encouraging constituents to leave their email address saves not only staff time and office money in crafting the reply, but also results in a more timely reply to the constituent. It’s important to state clear the office’s privacy policy or constituents will be very reluctant to leave an email address. If the constituent doesn’t have an email address, ask him to leave his postal address.
• Consider bringing on temporary assistance to ensure what constituents prize most of all: a quick response. Constituents prefer a timely, short reply rather than a brilliant, well-researched letter received one month after the vote. Consider adding resources to respond to the increase demand by:

1. paying overtime to staff or interns;
2. asking the state or district office to input names, or handle production of some letters either during the workday or as a part of an overtime arrangement;
3. contracting with vendors for data entry and/or production of form letters;
4. calling constituents who have time-sensitive or complex issues instead of writing to them;
5. considering buying a folding machine (if you are a House office), or borrowing a folding machine from a friendly office, to fold and stuff mail.

As the Internet makes it much easier for constituents to reach Members of Congress, the demands on office resources are only going to grow. Congressional offices will have to employ greater efficiencies to respond to this demand – yet there is much to be gained. For example, instead of about 10,000 constituents a year interacting with a House Member, with a website and email exchanges, Members could reach 20,000 to 50,000 a year – Senators could reach millions. This changes the dynamic of congressional mail, moving it from the category of “administrative burden” to “political communications opportunity.” The offices that are prepared for this development by using more efficient methods to responding to these communications will not only see happier constituents, but less stressed staffers as well.