The Congressional Management Foundation and Ohio State University's Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability (IDEA) are seeking congressional offices to participate in a project which could help slow the spread of the coronavirus by disseminating reliable public health information in a bipartisan way.

CMF and IDEA have experimented with innovative online town hall meetings over the past few years. Constituents learned a lot through these events, and they changed people's attitudes towards Members and policy, as well as their voting behavior. These now proven methods could be used to help constituents learn about the crisis and change their behavior to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In the crisis, CMF and IDEA are pitching in their expertise and capacity to coordinate bipartisan deliberative online town halls featuring Members of Congress and state public health officials. These meetings would be conducted at NO cost to congressional offices, and would be consistent with House and Senate ethics rules. These online town halls will provide crucial and reliable information in order to reassure the public, slow the spread of disease, and save lives. The events enable high-quality, broad-based public engagement, and are based on proven methods that enhance trust in leaders, change attitudes, and alter behavior.

We are open to adapting our model further in collaboration with congressional offices to better adapt to current conditions. If you would like to see the full project outline (four pages), please send an email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

For additional information on our research on this topic, please see these links below.

• CMF Office Toolkit for Improving Telephone Town Hall Meetings: http://www.congressfoundation.org/office-toolkit-home/telephone-town-hall-meetings-home 
• CMF and the academic team's online town hall meeting research: http://www.congressfoundation.org/projects/town-hall/online-town-hall-meetings-exploring-democracy-in-the-21st-century 
• Enhance Trust in Congress Through Improved Telephone Town Halls: http://www.congressfoundation.org/office-toolkit-home/telephone-town-hall-meetings-home/1103 
• Politicians Are More Persuasive During Interactive Town Hall Meetings: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/politicians-are-more-persuasive-during-interactive-town-hall-meetings-180954593/