Good News Bad News: Citizen Engagement at Record-High Levels

by Seth Turner on May 23, 2017

If you agree that citizen engagement is a cornerstone of our democratic foundation, I've got some good news and I've got some bad news.

The good news: Congress is experiencing citizen engagement at record levels.

The bad news: Congress is experiencing citizen engagement at record levels.

How can I possibly assert that record-high citizen engagement is a double-edged sword? My title is "Director of Citizen Engagement," for Pete's sake!

Well, it depends on two questions. First, what is motivating citizens to engage? Second, how are citizens engaging?" I firmly believe that most citizens engage their Members of Congress because they want to inform and influence Congressional decisions. Most citizens are turning to the Internet to engage with their Members of Congress. They visit an advocacy organization's Website, log into its legislative action center, and Presto – emails are sent to their Members of Congress.

Without a doubt, it's good news that more people trying to get involved in Congress' decision making process. In fact, some congressional offices recently confided to CMF that the volume of email they receive has increased 900 percent since November!

But the bad news is that their record numbers of form emails might not be achieving the desired effect. Rather than influencing congressional decisions, the unprecedented volume of email is mostly serving to overload under-resourced, overworked, and under-paid congressional staff.

Keep in mind that it is the legislative correspondents that sort the mail, provide reports to senior staff, and sometimes even make recommendations on what to respond to (and what to ignore).

• How could email campaigns improve?
• What is the ideal length of individual emails (as part of a campaign) to Congress?
• What should advocacy organizations do to make their campaigns more effective?
• How long should your supporters wait for a response to their communication?

To find out, CMF surveyed House and Senate legislative correspondents in 2016. The results are in and CMF has started sharing them with organizations that participate in its Partnership for a More Perfect Union initiative. We held an exclusive webinar for Partners on May 22, and more resources informed by the survey are being produced and posted on CMF's Partners Only website.

To learn more about CMF or the Partnership for a More Perfect Union, click here or contact CMF.