Congressional Management Foundation | How to Schedule & Conduct Meetings with Congress

town halls

CMF believes there is a need for a more deliberative and civil dialogue between citizens and elected officials. And our research on the effects of online town halls shows that this dialogue is possible. The Congress 3.0 Project continued this work by conducting comparative research on the telephone town halls that are now common on Capitol Hill, resulting in guidance on how to improve these sessions for constituents.

FEATURED RESEARCH

Improving Telephone Town Hall Meetings

tthm-hosting-graph-2 Telephone town hall meetings are one of the most significant technological advances in Congress in the past two decades. However, little research or guidance was available to help make the most of these communications tools. As part of the Congress 3.0 project, CMF tested ways to improve constituents' satisfaction with telephone town halls. Our research shows it IS possible: In before and after surveys, constituents were more likely to view the Representative favorably after they had participated in a telephone town hall meeting, even if their question didn't get asked.

Online Town Hall Meetings: Exploring Democracy in the 21st Century

This report summarizes the findings and recommendations from a study of 21 online town hall meetings between Members of Congress and their constituents which were facilitated by the Congressional Management Foundation and our academic research partners.

Enhance Trust in Congress Through Improved Telephone Town Halls

I recently had an irresistible proposition for a member of Congress: "What if I could show you a technology which, in one hour, would make thousands of your constituents consider you accessible and fair, increase their trust in your judgement, and triple your approval rating on one of the toughest issues Congress faces?"

citizen engagement, constituents, Preparation, Roll Call, town halls

Town Hall Meetings: How to Promote an Effective Dialogue

CMF partnered with AmericaSpeaks to showcase a model that Members can utilize to conduct large-scale, deliberative discussions with constituents that promote a meaningful dialogue.

Download the slides from the congressional briefing: as-cmf-town-hall-slides (1.07 MB)

citizen engagement, Preparation, town halls

Online Town Hall Meetings: Exploring Democracy in the 21st Century

The report was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and contributions from Harvard's Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

Online Town Hall Meetings: Exploring Democracy in the 21st Century (1 MB)

Key Findings:

Trust in the Member of Congress increased by 14 percentage points.
Participants were more likely than non-participants to describe the Member of Congress as "accessible," "fair," and "compassionate."
When asked whether the participants trusted how the Member of Congress handled the issue discussed ("immigration," not exactly a softball topic), 58% "approved" after the session, compared to 20% before the session.
These sessions were more likely than traditional venues to attract people from demographics not traditionally engaged in politics and people frustrated with the political system.
95% of participants agreed that such sessions are "very valuable to our democracy" and that they would be interested in doing similar online sessions for other issues.
Participation in the town hall increased citizen engagement in politics. Not only were they more likely to vote and follow elections in the news, they were more likely to try and persuade others to vote.