Citizens aren’t disengaged because they’re apathetic. They’re frustrated. Traditional town halls and other engagement methods reward the loudest voices, not the most representative ones. The result is polarization, distrust, and policymaking based on skewed inputs.

The IDEA Toolkit offers two evidence-based engagement formats, Deliberative Town Halls and Citizens’ Assemblies, used by Members of Congress in the United States and by elected officials around the world. Both help public officials reconnect with the people they serve and bring authentic, informed, representative input into the policymaking process.

Deliberative Town Halls

Our flagship innovation. Deliberative Town Halls are one of the most well-proven models in the world for reconnecting representatives with their constituents. They are designed to rebuild trust and to give lawmakers actionable insight into constituent opinion. They can be used at every stage of the policymaking process: to discover priorities, to test policy options, or to gather feedback and accountability on enacted legislation. Each event involves a representative sample of constituents, runs about an hour, and is conducted online to lower barriers to participation.

What makes it deliberative

Five features set a Deliberative Town Hall apart from a traditional one:

• Representativeness. We specially recruit a representative cross-section of constituents, and hold the event online to make it as accessible as possible.
• Focus. Each event centers on a single issue, which keeps the conversation substantive and gets it beyond talking points.
• Information. Participants receive short, non-partisan background material on the issue in advance, so they can form informed opinions before the event.
• Independence. A neutral third party moderates, signaling that this is a genuine exchange rather than an infomercial, which encourages authentic participation and trust.
• Candid, real-time participation. The elected official takes questions live and in the open, engaging constituents in a way no other form of communication can.

The Impact of Using These Tools

1 Reaches beyond the usual suspects

Deliberative events recruit a representative cross-section of constituents, giving lawmakers a way to engage citizens who tend not to follow politics or who have grown disenchanted with the system. After participating, those same citizens became more likely to vote and to take part in political discussions.

2 Produces informed, high-quality conversation

With non-partisan background materials provided in advance and a neutral facilitator running the discussion, deliberative engagements produce informed conversation rather than talking points or simplistic arguments.

3 Builds trust in elected officials

Participating in a deliberative engagement significantly increased citizens’ trust and approval of the elected official involved.

4 Translates into electoral support

Four months after the event, participants were 10 percent more likely to vote for the representative who engaged with them in this way.