FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2020
First Bipartisan Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Coronavirus Held in U.S.
Ohio State University and Congressional Management Foundation Collaborate on Two-Hour Session with Oklahoma Mayor, Member of Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Democratic congresswoman and Republican mayor in Oklahoma held the first bipartisan virtual online town hall meeting in the nation on Tuesday, April 14. The two-hour interactive session featured Congresswoman Kendra Horn (D-OK), Oklahoma Mayor David Holt (R-OK), and Oklahoma City County Health Department Executive Director Dr. Patrick McGough.
More than 7,000 Oklahomans listened to the session through phones or viewed online, which was moderated by Kelly Ogle, Oklahoma City News 9 anchor. Online surveys conducted with participants indicated the session made citizens feel they were better equipped to slow the spread of the virus, and nearly all expressed a willingness to share the information learned with friends and family.
"We supported this bipartisan effort because we know from public health experts that communications expertise in a public health crisis is as important as laboratory analysis," said Bradford Fitch, President & CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF). "Now more than ever, Congress must work collaboratively and utilize modern citizen engagement tools to enhance public understanding of the implications of this crisis and the issues facing the nation," he said.
"Political science research suggests that when leaders from both parties are willing to communicate together in a consistent, candid way about what needs to happen, constituents notice and typically cooperate," said Dr. Michael Neblo, Director of the Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability (IDEA) at The Ohio State University, and whose team organized and facilitated the event. "Since people complying with public health measures like social distancing is the most effective action for flattening the curve on COVID-19, bipartisan events like these can really have a dramatic impact, especially with people who may not have a lot of trust in our elected leaders generally," he said.
The event seemed to achieve the goals of educating citizens on the implications of the coronavirus. At the conclusion, participants were asked two questions:
- Do you now have a better understanding of how you can contribute to slowing the spread of COVID-19? 86% said Yes.
- Would you be willing to share what you have heard here today with friends or family? 96% said Yes.
CMF collaborated with the Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability (IDEA) at The Ohio State University, who hosted the forum. The event was part of IDEA's "Connecting to Congress" project, a groundbreaking multiyear experiment involving rigorous scientific methodology to demonstrate that deliberative engagement connects constituents and lawmakers in authentic, productive, and mutually rewarding ways. A precursor of the research resulted in the 2018 book, Politics with the People: Building a Directly Representative Democracy, by Michael A. Neblo, Kevin M. Esterling, and David M. J. Lazer.
In 2006-2008, the authors collaborated with CMF to conduct online town hall meeting events, similar to Tuesday's event in Oklahoma. In their experiments 13 members of Congress held deliberative online forums with their constituents, mostly on the topic of immigration. Participants took before and after surveys on their opinions. Trust in their Member of Congress (who participated in the session) to do the right thing "all or most" of the time rose amongst participants from 38% before the session to 52% after the session. When participants were asked if they approved of how the member of Congress was handling the issue of immigration -- before the session 20% approved, after the session 58% approved. The authors note that sessions like these, "...will go some way toward reconnecting citizens to their government as citizens, rather than merely consumers or tribal combatants."
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