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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.

"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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?