RELEASE:                           September 1, 2021
Contact:                               Bradley Sinkaus, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The dominant systems and practices used by Members of Congress and their constituents to interact and communicate are failing to address the primary needs and goals of either group in American democracy, according to a pioneering report from the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF). The Future of Citizen Engagement: Rebuilding the Democratic Dialogue details the current obstacles to robust and inclusive public engagement with Congress and proposes pragmatic principles to guide efforts to modernize the relationship between Senators and Representatives and their constituents.

The report documents how Congress lacks the capacity to meet the demands of a 21^st century constituency and has been slow to embrace new technology. Additionally, grassroots organizers—associations, nonprofits, and companies who facilitate the vast majority of emails flooding Congress—focus most of their resources and advocacy strategies on easy and efficient methods rather than strategies that are proven more effective, but harder to implement. As a result, constituents do not feel like they are being heard, and Congress is spending countless hours and millions of dollars engaged in practices that have been largely unchanged for decades.

“Congress’ thinking and practices about the democratic dialogue got stuck somewhere in the 1970s,” said Bradford Fitch, President & CEO of CMF, a nonpartisan nonprofit with a 44-year history of working with Congress. “Constituent communication has become an overwhelming administrative burden in a lot of congressional offices, as the volume of communications has increased ten-fold. They check a box that they’ve responded, but those responses are just formulaic. Few offices are rethinking their engagement with constituents to facilitate inclusive opportunities to invite constituents to contribute substantively to public policy. Congress needs to change its thinking and goals—engage in a paradigm shift from just ‘answering the mail’ to building trust in our democratic institutions,” he said.

The report offers ten principles to drive the modernization of Member-constituent engagement, many of which hearken back to our fundamental democratic values, including:

• Congressional engagement should foster trust in Members, Congress, and democracy.
• Congress should robustly embrace and facilitate the People’s First Amendment Rights. 
• 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.
• The People should be honest and transparent in their engagement with Congress.
• Constituent advocacy must prioritize content and quality over medium and quantity.

The Future of Citizen Engagement: Rebuilding the Democratic Dialogue also provides examples Congress can look to in civil society; state and international governments; and Congress itself for inspiration in rethinking democratic engagement. The report highlights state and international efforts to use websites and technology to facilitate different workflows for public engagement, including public comment on draft legislation, submitting input into committee proceedings, creative uses of telephone/virtual town hall meetings, and submitting official petitions to the chamber.

The Congressional Management (CMF) is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit whose mission is to build trust and effectiveness in Congress. Since 1977, CMF has worked internally with Member, committee, leadership, and institutional offices in the House and Senate to identify and disseminate best practices for management, workplace environment, communications, and constituent services. CMF also is the leading researcher and trainer on citizen engagement, educating nearly 100,000 individuals and facilitating better relationships with Congress.

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