Practices on both sides of Member-constituent engagement are facilitating bureaucracy, not democracy
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 24, 2022
Practices by both the public and Congress have led to the relationship between Congress and the People being viewed as purely transactional, not the robust, substantive democratic engagement envisioned for a modern democratic republic.
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Principle 4: Senators and Representatives should strive to engage with a diverse sample of their constituents, not just those who vote for them or seek to influence them.
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 17, 2022
"If Members of Congress rely primarily on engagement to which they and their staffs are reactive, they are restricting their contact to those who have the capacity and the will to engage."
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Who do Senators and Representatives Represent?
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 17, 2022
One of the fundamental issues in the practice of our representative democracy is who individual Senators and Representatives feel they actually represent and the actions they take based on that understanding. Do they represent all who are counted by the census, which includes all residents, whether they are eligible to vote or not? U.S. citizens only? Those who are informed and engaged? Eligible voters? Actual voters? Those who voted for them? Though few are so craven, many Americans believe legislators primarily represent those who contribute to their election campaigns.
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Principle 3: Congress Must Robustly Collect, Aggregate, and Analyze Meaningful Knowledge from Diverse Sources
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 11, 2022
Many assume that, outside of elections, public opinion polls, popular protest, and prolific advocacy campaigns should dictate the policy decisions Senators and Representatives make. We are a government of, by, and for the People—the logic goes—so Congress should do what the majority of the People want. The reality is more complicated than that, but the disconnect between popular opinion, media coverage, and congressional action inspires both anger and apathy. People feel Congress is not listening.
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Constituents do not feel like they are being heard
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 11, 2022
As discussed in the CMF report The Future of Citizen Engagement: What Americans Want from Congress & How Members Can Build Trust, constituents value the relationship between Members of Congress and those they represent. They want to feel heard, but they do not feel Congress is listening. They do not think government or Congress works for them.
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Congress is slow to embrace new technology
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 09, 2022
Since the Taft administration, when the number of Representatives was frozen at 435, not only has the population of the country grown significantly, but technology has revolutionized work and communication. Radio, broadcast and cable TV, computers, the Internet, and mobile communications have all been invented and/or widely adopted since then. All have also dramatically changed the dynamic between Members of Congress and the People.
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Are You a Threat to Democracy?
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 08, 2022
If your grassroots advocacy tactics rely on generating fear or anger at Congress or specific legislators, are you sowing the seeds of mistrust in our democracy? If your practices for collecting new leads for advocacy or fundraising rely on sending mass emails to Congress, are you diverting congressional resources away from more meaningful constituent engagement?
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Are You a Threat to Democracy?
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 08, 2022
If your grassroots advocacy tactics rely on generating fear or anger at Congress or specific legislators, are you sowing the seeds of mistrust in our democracy? If your practices for collecting new leads for advocacy or fundraising rely on sending mass emails to Congress, are you diverting congressional resources away from more meaningful constituent engagement?
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Principle 2: Congress Should Robustly Embrace and Facilitate the People’s First Amendment Rights
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 04, 2022
Congress is designed to be more directly connected and beholden to the people than the other branches of our national government, a fact that is deeply embedded into our democratic culture, practice, and expectations. Congress is, therefore, the institution most responsible for ensuring that the People's First Amendment rights are vigorously facilitated in the public policy process.
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Grassroots Advocacy and the First Amendment
by Kathy Goldschmidt
on March 02, 2022
The freedoms of assembly, speech, the press, and petition are all critically important to the relationship between the institution of Congress and the People as well as between individual Members and their constituents. Organizers of grassroots advocacy help their members engage in almost every one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
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